Elmhurst College

Elmhurst College is a comprehensive four-year private liberal arts college situated in Elmhurst, Illinois. Elmhurst College has an affiliation with the United Church of Christ and offers a very traditional service type of learning. In 1871, Elmhurst was founded by the German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest. This land was given with a motive of establishing a school to educate and train young men for the theological seminary and teachers were taught here as well. 

This school was named the Elmhurst Proseminary. The first students of this institute were all male, studying Latin, Greek, English, German, music, history, geography, mathematics, science, and religion. Back then classes were taught in German. In the year 1917, their first catalog was published in English. The college got its present name in 1924.

Elmhurst College offers admission in 5 different categories for students to study in the USA. Recently the college is to be renamed to Elmhurst University, effective June 30, 2023.

Rankings

Elmhurst College ranks:

According to US News and Report;

• #24 in Regional Universities Midwest 
• #6 in Best Undergraduate Teaching 
• #13 in Most Innovative Schools
• #17 in Best College for Veterans

According to Niche.com;

• #7 in Best Colleges for Nursing in Illinois 
• #18 in Best Colleges for Psychology in Illinois
• #13 in Best Colleges for Financing and Accounting in Illinois

Highlights

Programs, Campus, and Residence

Programs

In terms of academics, Elmhurst College has programs in 5 broad categories and those are undergraduate courses, graduate courses, certificate courses, research and ELSA.

• Undergraduate Courses have the most number of students here. There are more than 60 majors like criminal justice, chemistry, music, marketing, business, computer science, Music theory, liberal studies, etc supported by the equal number of minors. You may also choose certain certificate courses to boost your field knowledge or honors program.
• Graduate Courses for International students have 5 courses namely 
  • Computer Information Technology
  • Industrial/Organizational Psychology
  • Master’s Entry in Nursing Practice
  • MBA
  • Project Management
  • Supply Chain Management

There are few online courses as well that one can complete from his/her hometown. These courses are Data Science, Geographic Information System, and MBA

• There is a list of graduate and undergraduate certificates that one can apply for and take their career even further. Example, Cyber Security and GIS under UG courses while Application development, Data Science, Market Research, Enterprise Optimization, etc.

Campus

The campus is spread across 48 acres with many interesting elements, libraries, classrooms, in-campus residential, dining spaces, etc. Some of the famous sites include,

• The Barbara A. Kieft Accelerator ArtSpace, it houses a 750,000-volt Cockcroft-Walton particle accelerator. It was built by Dr. Sam Allison, professor of physics at the University of Chicago, it was moved to Elmhurst in the late 1960s but wasn’t operational until 1973. Though later it was shut down. 
• The A.C. Buehler Library has around 237,000 volumes and a collection of Chicago Imagists art and was opened in 1971. Besides that, the library also has a hundred computers for general use and thousands of audio-visual study materials. 
• Kranz Forum has the famous statue of Reinhold Niebuhr, who was a preeminent 20th-century theologian and 1910 graduate of the Elmhurst Proseminary. The site was built in 1873 and hence it was also one of the first buildings.
• Old Main, built-in 1878. It also goes by the name of Hauptgebaude. This is the oldest building on campus. It houses the departments of Art, Urban Studies, History, Religious Studies, Sociology & Criminal Justice, and Political Science. In addition, it is also for art studios and classrooms. This iconic building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Residence

There is a housing facility offered to students and one can choose from 9 different residential halls spread across the campus. First-year students need to share apartments with other students. 

Out of the 9 Halls available four are apartments owned by 12 colleges in the closed perimeter. If someone is staying back during the summer break he/she is eligible for summer housing. Types of halls available are:

• Cureton Hall is one of the newly added fully air-conditioned residential. The hall has both single and double rooms with a capacity of 112 students. They have common lounges, laundry, and bathrooms
• Dinkmeyer Hall has a capacity of 121 students. It is a suite styled. It is a coed living space but without AC. Both single and double sharing rooms are available. 
• Niebuhr Hall is only meant for first-year students. This is also a coed space but floors are assigned to a particular gender. There is no AC facility available. Only double rooms with common bathrooms and lounges.
• Schick Hall, individually shaped double and single rooms. The building can hold 208 students. It is coed in nature but at times genders are assigned to wings. No AC is available.
• Stanger Hall is Single, double and quadruple occupancy rooms with a total capacity of 165 students. Genders are assigned to floors otherwise it is coed by nature. There is a common bathroom and lounges with AC facility. 
• West Hall, is also one of the newest additions. It is a suite-style housing meant for the upper-class students. There is AC with double and single rooms.

Other options available are Elm Park Apartments, Prospect Apartments, Campus houses, etc. All the rooms have facilities like cable TV, internet, kitchenette, desk, desk shelf, chair, bookshelf, dresser, blinds, and built-in closets.etc

Application Process

Elmhurst College offers admission throughout the year. International students have to submit additional requirements to be eligible for admission, they are as follows:

How to apply: Head on the official website for admissions. Fill out the form and send all the required scanned documents. The University scans and verifies each international application themselves inside the campus. That way it is a fast and efficient process. There is no such charge for filling out the form as well. 

Application Deadline: The college doesn’t have a fixed deadline. The dates keep on changing depending on the vacancy.

Admission Requirement:

• Application for admission
• A high school transcript and/or GSE results (if your transcript is not in English, we also require a certified translation)
• Test Scores of SAT/ ACT
• A Proof of English Language Proficiency – TOEFL, IELTS, etc.

Cost of Attendance

Tuition fees for international students for undergraduate courses are 18,727 USD while it is slightly high and may vary for graduate courses.

Other costs are calculated approximately trying to be as perfect as possible. Though it is always advisable to calculate little more to stay on a safer side in case any unaccounted events show up.

Tuition fees of some programs are as follows:

*the above statistical figure is calculated approximately. It may differ slightly from the actual scenario.

Scholarship and Financial Aids

A part of Elmhurst’s mission is to reward and encourage meritorious students to study in the USA. Elmhurst College offers financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, loans, etc. Students can look for educational loans to fund their higher education as well. There are around 20+ scholarships offered directly by the college to which students can apply for:

• Presidential Scholarship: Offers up to 20,000 USD. Students will high grades and meritorious performance are awarded this scholarship. To renew your scholarship maintain a 2.00 Elmhurst GPA and-full time enrollment
• Dean’s Scholarship: Awarded up to 18,000 USD to meritorious students. To renew your scholarship maintain a 2.00 Elmhurst GPA and full-time enrollment

Other scholarship programs include Founder’s Scholarship (16,000 USD), Trustee’s Scholarship (11,000 USD) and 7-8 scholarships more with 2,000 USD grant each. 

Students can also look for external scholarships offered to international students to study in the USA. 

Alumni Network

Unlike every other University with such a profound name, Elmhurst College also has a rich set of alumni. Some big names include:

• Paul J. Achtemeier – Theologian
• Rane Arroyo – Poet and Chicago Literary Hall of Fame recipient 
• William Joseph Bauer – Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago
• Doug Beach – Grammy Award-winning composer, arranger, adjudicator, and director of the Elmhurst College Jazz Band
• Peter M. Blau – Sociologist