NorthWestern's Graduation and Dropout Rate

Graduation Rate

The following chart shows the graduation rate of Northwestern University students who enrolled in 2015 and after. The stat covers all undergraduates registered as full-time students to study a 4-year bachelor's degree program for the first time.

The breakdown shows the graduation rate by race/ethnicity of US students. All international students are represented under one group.

As of August 31, 2021, the average graduation rate of Northwestern University students is 95.2%. Female students graduated at a rate of 96.5%, whereas male students graduated at a rate of 94.0%.

95.2%

asian 97.8% 352 students
African American 90.8% 118 students
white 95.1% 907 students
unknown 91.2% 73 students
hispanic 94.3% 232 students
International Students 96.2% 152 students
Mixed Race 97.6% 80 students

Drop Out

Northwestern University has an overall drop-out rate of 4.2% as of August 31, 2021. The dropout rate of male students and female students is 5.1% and 3.3% respectively.

Below is a breakdown of the dropout rate of US students by race/ethnicity and international students.

4.2%

asian 1.9% 7 students
African American 8.5% 11 students
white 4.3% 41 students
unknown 8.8% 7 students
hispanic 4.9% 12 students
International Students 3.2% 5 students
Mixed Race 2.4% 2 students

Still Enrolled

The data represent all cohorts between 2015 and August 31, 2021

0.6%

white 0.6% 6 students
hispanic 0.8% 2 students

Bachelor's Degrees

Degree/Program	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Computer Science	$84,037	$98,403	$105,307
Industrial Engineering	$84,644	$79,849	$95,078
Computer Engineering	NA	$85,918	$93,539
Economics	$71,488	$73,035	$85,909
Chemical Engineering	$71,607	$79,688	$85,168
Mechanical Engineering	$70,936	$73,112	$81,425
Mathematics	$68,815	$75,518	$76,013
Community Organization and Advocacy	$65,015	$64,990	$75,219
Communication and Media Studies	$48,590	$48,041	$61,122
International Relations and National Security Studies	$46,450	$46,087	$59,606
Political Science and Government	$45,960	$47,846	$55,447
Journalism	$44,144	$43,100	$53,833
Psychology, General	$34,751	$38,048	$49,533
Public Policy Analysis	$40,701	$39,009	$47,809
History	$38,991	$38,505	$47,132
Biology, General	$19,001	$21,383	$46,191
English Language and Literature, General	$29,896	$35,416	$43,563
Sociology	$41,134	$39,927	$42,675
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	$27,414	$26,739	$37,468
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	$23,935	$20,869	$33,109
Music	$38,199	$20,140	$31,235
Fine and Studio Arts	NA	$32,382	NA
Philosophy	NA	$31,839	NA
Human Resources Management and Services	$69,350	$76,995	NA
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	NA	$29,685	NA
Information Science/Studies	$94,536	$83,546	NA
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	$60,519	$76,460	NA
Materials Engineering	NA	$63,005	NA
Manufacturing Engineering	$66,553	NA	NA
Non-Professional General Legal Studies (Undergraduate)	NA	$35,416	NA
Social Sciences, Other	NA	$69,338	NA
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	$43,630	NA	NA
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	$19,214	NA	NA
Applied Mathematics	$80,781	NA	NA
Statistics	$59,892	$64,990	NA
Area Studies	NA	$28,019	NA
Chemistry	$41,049	$44,971	NA
Research and Experimental Psychology	NA	$39,369	NA
Psychology, Other	$37,353	$31,305	NA
Anthropology	NA	$29,685	NA

Master's Degrees

Degree/Program	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies	$150,242	$188,472	$221,242
Business Administration, Management and Operations	$120,709	$189,565	$194,961
Business/Commerce, General	$162,478	$163,561	$177,652
Engineering-Related Fields	$111,200	$157,779	$159,304
Engineering, Other	$140,321	$141,586	$154,556
Medical Illustration and Informatics	$88,288	$118,465	$132,325
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	$118,780	$111,323	$130,124
Community Organization and Advocacy	$115,760	$113,668	$128,046
Information Science/Studies	$101,303	$104,597	$111,519
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	$102,431	$106,838	$111,312
Science Technologies/Technicians, Other	$79,568	$92,632	$111,303
Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other	$77,466	$82,238	$88,885
Communication and Media Studies	$68,121	$74,953	$84,767
Public Administration	$66,011	$63,997	$74,334
Public Health	NA	$64,990	$69,374
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	$44,415	$41,565	$67,120
Educational Administration and Supervision	$48,965	$56,776	$63,704
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	$58,207	$60,452	$59,338
Health and Physical Education/Fitness	$48,897	$49,423	$58,414
Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education	$54,661	$54,948	$57,867
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	$54,060	$45,383	$51,813
Journalism	$45,043	$41,565	$49,676
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	$39,767	$42,682	$45,779
Music	$21,311	$25,774	$29,514
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	NA	NA	$22,753
Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management	$42,782	NA	NA
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General	$60,050	NA	NA
Health and Medical Administrative Services	$129,419	$182,280	NA
Legal Professions and Studies, Other	$66,854	$43,798	NA
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	$59,798	$87,754	NA
Computer Science	$101,171	NA	NA
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	$64,032	$63,005	NA
Mechanical Engineering	$84,295	NA	NA
Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians	NA	$94,408	NA
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology	NA	$71,575	NA
Biotechnology	$63,570	$63,005	NA

Doctoral Degrees

Degree/Program	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Chemistry	$103,111	$93,342	$118,122
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	$69,172	$71,938	$75,827
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	$52,627	$71,015	$71,683
Music	NA	$50,856	$57,250
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	$71,868	$78,343	NA

First Professional Degrees

Degree/Program	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Business/Commerce, General	NA	$188,472	$216,176
Law	$187,194	$170,971	$206,288
Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies	$112,796	$97,071	$115,911
Medicine	$60,913	$57,931	$67,694

Post-Baccalaureate Certificates

Degree/Program	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	$51,445	$66,915	$69,645

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