Ibex Insights
Ibex Insights
 Open dashboard

The Chicago School at Chicago

Chicago, IL · official site ↗

Private nonprofitSpecial Focus: Medical Schools/CentersGraduate/Professional
64
Fin. Resilience
Resilience score

vs. 95 peers in its group

The Chicago School at Chicago is a private nonprofit institution in Chicago, IL, classified by Carnegie as “Special Focus: Medical Schools/Centers.”

It enrolls about 21 undergraduates and is benchmarked here against 95 peer institutions (Special Focus: Medical Schools/Centers · Private nonprofit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 64 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is full-time faculty share (100%, 100th percentile).

Its weakest is admission yield (11.1%).

Ibex's cross-metric scan flags: Endowment fell 42% (2023→2024).

Peer group

Special Focus: Medical Schools/Centers · Private nonprofit

95 institutions

Endowment fell 42% (2023→2024)
Policy & demographic exposure

How exposed The Chicago School at Chicago is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax and Grad PLUS elimination and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.

Structural risk indexAn indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure) blending operating margin, months of cash cushion, tuition dependency and the home-state enrollment cliff. Screens for the financial and demographic strain that precedes closures and mergers — directional, not a prediction.
75
High
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
-31.5%
Severe decline

Indicative signals, not forecasts — see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax and Grad PLUS figures appear only where the institution is actually exposed; “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.

Turn these signals into action

Seeing exposure is step one. Ibex builds AI agents that monitor and act on exactly these pressures — explore an interactive demo. Live demos run real workflows; the rest are working mockups we build to your institution’s data.

Market Intelligence Agentlive demoAI Recruiter Agent
Financial Health Index
2.9
on a −4 to 10 scale
Financial Health IndexWatch

NACUBO Composite Financial Index — the balance-sheet health score accreditors and institutional boards use to gauge financial health; bond-rating agencies track similar ratios. 40th percentile of 95 peers. Carries little or no plant debt, so the viability ratio is excluded and weights re-normalized.

Primary reserve 55%0 mo
Return on net assets 30%10.9%
Operating result 15%11%

Composite of four ratios on a strength-factor scale (−4 weak → 10 strong): below 3 falls short of the threshold for financial health, below 1 signals acute stress, and above 6 is strong. Computed from IPEDS FY2022-23, the most recent finance release (it lags the current year by 2–3 years). Branch campuses that report finances at a parent/system level can show distorted ratios. For informational benchmarking, not a credit rating or financial advice.

Revenue composition
Where the money comes from $159.2M total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 95% of revenue.

Tuition & fees94.6%
Investment return3.2%
Government grants & contracts1.4%
Other revenue0.6%
Private gifts & grants0.3%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Financial Health
Net tuition revenue / FTETuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student after institutional aid/discounts — what tuition actually nets.
Strong
$28,821
72nd percentile in peer grouppeer median $20,254
Instructional spend / FTESpending on instruction per FTE student — how much of the budget reaches the classroom.
Average
$8,658
33rd percentile in peer grouppeer median $12,170
Endowment (end of year)Total endowment value at year end — long-term invested wealth that funds operations and cushions shocks.
Average
$8.5M
49th percentile in peer grouppeer median $9.4M
In-state tuition & feesPublished in-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$21,780
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median $17,885
Out-of-state tuition & feesPublished out-of-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$21,780
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median $17,885
Avg monthly faculty salaryAverage monthly salary of full-time faculty (IPEDS) — a proxy for faculty investment.
Strong
$8,692
68th percentile in peer grouppeer median $8,016
Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.
Endowment per undergradEndowment divided by undergraduate headcount — endowment wealth behind each undergrad.
Strong
$406,679
88th percentile in peer grouppeer median $41,967
Operating marginNet surplus as a share of total revenue — whether the institution runs in the black.
Strong
10.6%
81st percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.3%
Net surplus as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23): (total revenues − total expenses) ÷ total revenues. A surplus above 4% is strong; a thin surplus near 0% leaves little margin for shocks.
Tuition dependencyTuition's share of total revenue — how exposed the budget is to enrollment swings.
94.6%
88th percentile in peer grouppeer median 78.3%
Tuition & fees as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Higher = more exposed to enrollment swings.
Tuition discount rateInstitutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition (IPEDS, private nonprofits only) — the tuition-discount rate. The share of sticker tuition handed back as aid; a high rate (the national average is ~56%) signals heavy price competition for students.
Moderate
3.5%
62nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.4%
Institutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition & fee revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23, FASB): allowances applied to tuition ÷ (net tuition revenue + those allowances) — the tuition-discount rate enrollment leaders track, i.e. the share of sticker tuition handed back as institutional aid. Private nonprofit institutions only; public (GASB) institutions report tuition differently and are not shown. The national private-college average is roughly 56% (NACUBO); above ~60% signals heavy price competition.
State appropriations shareState appropriations' share of total revenue — material for public institutions, near zero for private.
0%
96th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%
State appropriations as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Material for public institutions; ~0 for private.
Administrative cost shareInstitutional support (central administration, governance, general administration, fundraising, and under FASB the operation & maintenance of plant) as a share of total expenses — private nonprofit (FASB) institutions only, where the figure is comparable. An informational gauge of administrative intensity, not a measure of waste.
37%
91st percentile in peer grouppeer median 22.7%
Institutional support — central administration, executive management, governance, general administration, fundraising and (under FASB rules) operation & maintenance of plant — as a share of total expenses (IPEDS FY2022-23, FASB). Private nonprofit institutions only: public (GASB) institutions report functional expenses on a different basis and frequently consolidate large hospital and auxiliary operations, which makes a comparable ratio unreliable, so they are not shown. Because FASB folds plant operations into institutional support, this runs higher than a narrow 'central-office' figure, and schools with sizable hospital or auxiliary operations show a lower ratio as those costs enlarge total expenses. An informational benchmark of administrative intensity, compared within the peer group — not a measure of waste or quality.
Months of operating cushionMonths of operating expenses covered by expendable reserves — the institution's cash cushion.
Thin
0 mo
19th percentile in peer grouppeer median 10 mo
How many months of operating expenses the institution could cover from expendable reserves (IPEDS FY2022-23 primary reserve ratio × 12). About 5 months — one semester — is the accreditor benchmark for solid footing; below ~3 months is thin. A negative figure means expendable reserves are themselves negative.
Return on net assetsChange in net assets over the year — whether the institution grew wealthier.
Strong
10.9%
83rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 1.5%
Change in total net assets ÷ net assets (IPEDS FY2022-23) — whether the institution grew wealthier over the year. 2–4% is adequate; above 4% is strong.
Endowment per FTE studentEndowment per full-time-equivalent student — the FTE-correct measure of endowment wealth per student.
Average
$7,426
35th percentile in peer grouppeer median $13,081
End-of-year endowment ÷ 12-month FTE enrollment — endowment wealth per full-time-equivalent student. The FTE-correct companion to endowment-per-undergraduate; FTE counts graduate and part-time load, so research universities look less wealthy on this basis than on a headcount basis.
Structural risk indexAn indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure) blending operating margin, months of cash cushion, tuition dependency and the home-state enrollment cliff. Screens for the financial and demographic strain that precedes closures and mergers — directional, not a prediction.
High
75
— percentile in peer group
An indicative 0–100 structural-risk index (higher = more pressure), an equal-weight blend of the stress signals we measure: thin or negative operating margin, low months of operating cushion, high tuition dependency, and a shrinking home-state high-school-graduate pipeline (enrollment cliff). Averaged over whichever signals are available (at least two required). It screens for the financial and demographic pressures that precede closures and mergers — a directional indicator, NOT a prediction that any institution will close, and not a credit rating.
Enrollment & Pipeline
Undergraduate enrollmentNumber of degree-seeking undergraduates (IPEDS fall headcount). A size measure, not a quality signal.
21
11th percentile in peer grouppeer median 282
Admission rateShare of applicants offered admission. Lower means more selective; open-admission schools report none.
34.5%
4th percentile in peer grouppeer median 82%
Pell recipient shareShare of undergraduates on a federal Pell Grant — a proxy for the share from lower-income families.
54.8%
80th percentile in peer grouppeer median 35.4%
Program concentration (HHI)How concentrated a school's annual completions are across academic fields, as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (10,000 = one field, lower = many). Higher means more reliance on a few fields; lower means a diversified program portfolio.
Highly concentrated
8,523
— percentile in peer group
How concentrated the institution's degree and certificate output is across academic fields (CIP 2-digit families), as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index on the latest year's completions: 10,000 means every completion is in one field; lower means output is spread across many. A higher value means the school leans on fewer fields and is more exposed to demand shifts in them; a lower value reflects a broad program portfolio. Shown for institutions reporting at least 100 annual completions. A structural-diversification signal, not a measure of quality.
12-month FTE enrollmentFull-time-equivalent enrollment over the full year — the denominator for per-student finance measures.
1,150
85th percentile in peer grouppeer median 492
Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2022-23). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.
Student-faculty ratioStudents per instructional faculty member — lower usually means smaller classes and more contact.
8:1
52nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 8:1
Students per instructional faculty member (IPEDS, fall 2023). Lower generally means smaller classes and more faculty contact, though the measure mixes undergraduate and graduate teaching and is institution-reported.
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
Severe decline
-31.5%
— percentile in peer group
Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age; the U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment.
Admission yield
Below peers
11.1%
14th percentile in peer grouppeer median 56.1%
Share of admitted students who enrolled (IPEDS Admissions, Fall 2023): students who enrolled ÷ students admitted. A demand signal — how many accepted offers the institution converts to enrollment. Higher yield generally reflects stronger demand, though binding early-decision programs and price positioning can inflate it. Open-admission institutions do not report admissions and show none.
Student body
Undergraduate race & ethnicity IPEDS 2024-25
Black38.1%
Hispanic/Latino28.6%
White14.3%
Unknown9.5%
Asian4.8%
Two or more races4.8%

Undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity, as reported to IPEDS (College Scorecard). “International” denotes nonresident students; “Unknown” means race/ethnicity was not reported.

Student Outcomes & Risk
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).
Below peers
$56,899
29th percentile in peer grouppeer median $68,303
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.
Average
$20,000
51st percentile in peer grouppeer median $20,000
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.
Below peers
4.2%
76th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.5%
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort — the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Share taking federal loansShare of students taking out federal loans — a borrowing-reliance signal.
71%
72nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 64.2%
Full-time faculty shareShare of faculty employed full-time — higher generally means more availability and continuity.
Strong
100%
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 62.7%
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings — how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.
Below peers
0.35×
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.29×
Field-demand outlook (10-yr)Employment-weighted 10-year BLS job-growth projection for the occupations this school's program mix feeds (U.S. all-occupations benchmark +3.1%). An indicative broad-field demand signal, not a program-specific or placement guarantee.
Fast-growing field mix
+6.6%
97th percentile in peer group
Projected 10-year (2024-34) change in U.S. employment for the occupations this institution's degrees and certificates feed, blended across its program mix. Built by mapping each CIP 2-digit field to its occupations via the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk, taking the employment-weighted average of each occupation's BLS-projected percent change, then weighting fields by the institution's latest-year completions. The U.S. all-occupations benchmark is 3.1%, so a higher value means the school's graduates concentrate in faster-growing labor markets. An INDICATIVE field-level signal at broad-field granularity — not a program-specific or graduate-specific projection, and not a placement or earnings guarantee. Structurally diffuse CIP families whose crosswalk maps to 'any job' are excluded from the signal: 05 Area/Ethnic/Gender Studies, 24 Liberal Arts & Humanities, and 30 Multi/Interdisciplinary. Shown where at least 50% of completions fall in fields with a coherent occupational mapping and the school reports 100+ annual completions.
Top fields of study (bachelor's)

The Chicago School at Chicago’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

FieldCompletions / yrMedian earnings, 4 yrs outMedian debtEarnings premiumRisk score
Psychology5$53,952—Above benchmark +43%Low · 0

All 1 top fields shown clear the IL state earnings-premium benchmark (indicative).

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the IL state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend—higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked
How financially healthy is The Chicago School at Chicago?
On the NACUBO Composite Financial Index — the −4 to 10 balance-sheet score accreditors and institutional boards use — The Chicago School at Chicago scores 2.9 (Watch), computed from its IPEDS FY2022-23 finances. This is informational benchmarking, not a credit rating.
How selective is The Chicago School at Chicago?
The Chicago School at Chicago admits about 34% of applicants.
What is The Chicago School at Chicago's student-faculty ratio?
The Chicago School at Chicago reports a student-faculty ratio of 8:1 (IPEDS, fall 2023) — that is, about 8 students for every instructional faculty member.
How much do The Chicago School at Chicago graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $56,899 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Are The Chicago School at Chicago's programs at risk under the federal earnings-premium test?
Indicatively, at The Chicago School at Chicago, the single largest field with available earnings data clears the IL state earnings-premium benchmark used by the 2025 federal test (effective July 1, 2026) — median graduate earnings (four years out) exceed those of a typical worker without the credential. This is an estimate using College Scorecard earnings vs ACS medians; the official Department of Education determination may differ.
Which schools are The Chicago School at Chicago's peers?
The Chicago School at Chicago is benchmarked against 95 institutions in the Special Focus: Medical Schools/Centers · Private nonprofit peer group; all percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.
Compare with peers
Palo Alto UniversityNational University of Health SciencesAdler UniversityNew York College of Traditional Chinese MedicineWilliam James CollegeThe Chicago School at San Diego

Explore The Chicago School at Chicago interactively

Open the full dashboard to switch peer views, hover trends, and compare head-to-head.

Open in dashboard

Want a custom dashboard for The Chicago School at Chicago?

We build tailored intelligence dashboards — The Chicago School at Chicago and the peer set you choose, the metrics and risk signals your team cares about, kept current and delivered to you. Tell us what you’d want to track and a specialist will scope it with you.

Request a custom dashboard

Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite — see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.