Quad

Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Penn grads earn $22K more ten years out than Northwestern's ($111,371 vs. $89,363)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    Penn's yield is 13 pts higher than Northwestern's

    Yield rate
  3. 3

    Penn admits 5.4% vs. 7.7% at Northwestern

    Acceptance rate
  4. 4

    Penn has 4 pts more first-gen students than Northwestern (19% vs. 15%)

    First-generation students
  5. 5

    Penn costs about $1.7K less per year on average than Northwestern ($55,554 vs. $57,229, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  6. 6

    Northwestern has 2 pts more Pell recipients than Penn (19% vs. 17%)

    Pell Grant recipients

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Who's hardest to get into

Penn admits 5.4%, Northwestern 7.7%; Penn's yield is higher, at 68%.

Acceptance rate
Northwestern7.7%
Penn5.4%
Quad's selectivity
  • NorthwesternUltra selective
  • PennUltra selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1400–1600
Northwestern
1510–1570
Penn
1510–1570
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • NorthwesternSchool record and prep program required
  • PennGPA and school record required

Who's on each campus

Penn is a bit larger than Northwestern (10,650 vs. 9,201 undergrads); Northwestern has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
Northwestern9.2K
Penn10.7K
Pell Grant share
Northwestern19%
Penn17%

Majors and faculty

Econometrics and Quantitative Economics leads at Northwestern, and Financial Analytics at Penn; Northwestern has 6 students per faculty member to Penn's 8.

Students per faculty member
Northwestern6 to 1
Penn8 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • NorthwesternEconometrics and Quantitative Economics11%
  • PennFinancial Analytics12%

What each costs

Penn costs about $1.7K less a year than Northwestern on average, and its grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
Northwestern$57.2K
Penn$55.6K
Aid generosity
Northwestern37%
Penn38%

What each pays off

Penn's former students earn more, a median $111.4K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 90% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
Northwestern$89.4K
Penn$111.4K
Graduation rate
Northwestern97%
Penn97%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; both got more selective.

Applications, 10-year change
  • NorthwesternGrowing+47%
  • PennGrowing+82%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why