Dominican University

Overview

Rankings

• #5 Best Online Colleges in Illinois
• #5 Best Psychology Colleges in Illinois
• #7 Best Colleges in Illinois
• #7 Best Nursing Colleges in Illinois
• #7 Best MBA Programs in Illinois
• #8 Best Biology Colleges in Illinois
• #10 Best Computer Science Colleges in Illinois
• #10 Best Data Science Colleges in Illinois

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Dominican University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Dominican University, located in River Forest, Illinois, admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 90%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,002. The graduation rate is roughly 59%.

Acceptance Rate

90%

Retention Rate

78%

SAT Average

1002

ACT Midpoint

25

SAT Range

880–1100

ACT Range

16–26

Full-Time Faculty

38%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$8,029

Student–Faculty Ratio

11:1

Diversity Index

0.48

First-Gen Students

51%

Applicants

5,117

Admitted

4,581

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Dominican University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 11% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

11%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

16%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

2%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Dominican University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Dominican University is $38,978, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $11,745. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $9,759 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $24,411 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$38,978

Out-of-State

$38,978

Avg Net Price

$11,745

Median Debt

$24,411

Pell Grant Rate

52%

Federal Loan Rate

50%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Dominican University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Dominican University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Dominican University earn a median of $60,327, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$47,907

8 Years

$57,407

10 Years

$60,327

Debt-to-Earnings

0.4x

Earning > $25K

74%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Dominican University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Dominican University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.42%, well above the typical college. About 6.1% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 23.4% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $87,300, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.42%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

23.4%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

6.1%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$118,610

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Dominican University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Dominican University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.59, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.01), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 8% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.59

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.01

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

7.7%

Support Ratio

0.99

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$-2,273,134

Top Programs

The fields Dominican University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 20% $65,959 early-career
• Health Professions 16% $74,862 early-career
• Psychology 12% $31,771 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 9% $29,935 early-career
• Social Sciences 9% $64,928 early-career
• Education 8% $41,028 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 7% $80,791 early-career
• Mathematics & Statistics 3%

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.