Private nonprofit · College

VanderCook College of Music

Chicago, Illinois · Large city

89.5%
Admit rate
$19,780
Avg net price
67%
Graduation rate
$47,863
Median earnings

VanderCook College of Music is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Chicago, Illinois (large city setting), enrolling 76 undergraduates. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).

Private nonprofitSmall · 76 undergradsLarge cityAccessible · 89% admitCold wintersSnowy

About Chicago, Illinois

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was a trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and he established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago". Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $670.5 billion according to September 2017 estimates. The city has also been rated as having the most balanced economy in the United States, due to its high level of diversification. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Graduate
Nearest big city
3 miles to Chicago, IL
To Great Lakes shore
1 mile
Nearest airport
7 miles to Chicago Midway (MDW) · major hub

How VanderCook College of Music compares

Selectivity89.5%

More selective than 25% · #46 most selective of 58 in Illinois

Graduation rate67%

Higher than 72% · #17 of 58 in Illinois

First-year retention88%

Higher than 83%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$47,863

Higher than 32% · #55 of 66 in Illinois

Average net price$19,780

Cheaper than 51% · #32 cheapest of 57 in Illinois

Median debt at graduation$27,000

Lower than 11%

Student–faculty ratio5 : 1

Lower than 96%

Undergraduate enrollment76

Larger than 6%

Percentiles compare VanderCook College of Music with the nation's 2,196 four-year colleges, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count four-year colleges in Illinois.

Student body

Undergraduate vs. graduate

292students
  • Undergraduate7626%
  • Graduate21674%

Undergraduates by gender

76undergrads
  • Women3242%
  • Men4458%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White42%
  • Black7.9%
  • Hispanic37%
  • Asian2.6%
  • Other or multiracial11%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
76
Graduate enrollment
216
Student–faculty ratio
5 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
26%
First-generation students
Students over 25
8%
Median family income
$59,619
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$62,505
Endowment
$410,794

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Admissions

Admission rate
89.5%
Test scores
Considered but not required
SAT range (25th–75th %)
SAT average
SAT reading
SAT math
ACT composite

Cost

In-state tuition
$30,910
Room & board
$14,008
Books & supplies
$1,200
Total cost of attendance
$44,613
Average net price
$19,780

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated (within 6 years)
67%
Graduated on time (4 years)
50%
First-year retention
88%
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$45,704
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$47,863
Median debt at graduation
$27,000
Students with federal loans
42%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
61%

About 17% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
$35

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

Safety grade
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
0
Property offenses (2022–2024)
0

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (323 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k
$16,308
$30–48k
$48–75k
$17,968
$75–110k
$20,485
$110k+
$31,777

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Four-year (or more) true cost

Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.

Est. total to a degree
$78,611

$17,968/year × about 4.4 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$47,863
Typical debt at graduation
$27,000
Debt vs. one year's pay
56%
Out-earn a HS grad

Typical debt would take roughly 5.6 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$45,348
Men
$52,452

Men out-earn women by $7,104 (16%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
81°F
Winter low
20°F
Annual rain
34.4″
Annual snow
38.8″

Average temperature

HighLow
10°50°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.02.04.1JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Chicago Northerly IS, IL US station (1.7 mi from campus).

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to VanderCook College of Music

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare VanderCook College of Music side by side →

Colleges near VanderCook College of Music

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.