Elmhurst College

Elmhurst College inspires intellectual and personal growth in our students, preparing them for meaningful and ethical contributions to a diverse, global society.

Elmhurst College aspires to be a national leader in undergraduate and graduate education, recognized for the success of our students and alumni, our innovative faculty and staff, and our local, national, and international partnerships.

We embrace individual expression, and we celebrate our diversity as a source of strength. Our commitment to inclusion and diversity on campus is embedded in our core institutional values and plays out in many ways across the campus.

Choose from 63 majors, 15 preprofessional programs and 44 places to study abroad—the opportunities are endless.As an undergraduate at Elmhurst, you’ll develop a broad understanding of the world around you. You’ll have extraordinary opportunities to immerse yourself in research, travel the globe, explore your intellectual passions and prepare for an exceptional career.

Our graduate programs are tailored to the demands of the marketplace. This is graduate school on your terms, built around your schedule and priorities.

As a first-year student at Elmhurst College, you’re welcomed into a strong, supportive community.While you prepare for an extraordinary career, you’ll cultivate a broad understanding of context and culture in one of our 63 majors. You’ll explore all sides of yourself, growing academically, socially and spiritually, and make connections that last a lifetime.Our inviting, suburban campus is located just minutes from the economic and cultural hub of downtown Chicago.

On our campus, you’ll meet students from almost all 50 states and from countries around the world. Our community includes students of all ages, from nearly every ethnic, racial and religious background.Our dedicated International Student Services staff is here to help. We’ll support you every step of the way, from the admission process to getting a visa and finding a job. We also offer generous financial aid packages, including merit-based scholarships specifically for international students.

Elmhurst is affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the first mainstream American church to ordain an African American pastor, a woman, and an openly gay man, The Reverend Dr. William R. Johnson ’68. In the spirit of the UCC’s commitment to social justice and inclusivity, the College is open and welcoming to all.

Student organizations such as the Black Student Union, HABLAMOS, Asian Club of Elmhurst and Queer Straight Alliance promote understanding, awareness and inclusion. These groups are open to students from all backgrounds.Elmhurst celebrates campus diversity with a variety of events that spark conversation and raise awareness. Student-run activities include the Big Queer Gathering and National Coming Out Day, while our annual religious lecture series provides a forum for scholars representing a variety of religious traditions.The major in intercultural studies (ICS) encourages students to examine cultures, power, privilege and cross-cultural interactions. You can focus your ICS coursework in an area of particular interest, including African American studies, Latin American studies and LGBTQ studies.

As the College prepares to celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranks it among the top 12 regional colleges in the Midwest as well as the region’s best values. Offering 63 majors and 15 graduate programs, Elmhurst College is deeply committed to helping students define their values, explore the world and prepare to reach their full potential—in college and in the world beyond.

Elmhurst College is led by a cohesive team of trustees and administrative and academic leaders.A private, independent college, Elmhurst is governed by a 35-member Board of Trustees. Day-to-day operations are directed by President Troy D. VanAken with the support of senior administrators in the President’s Cabinet.Together, Elmhurst’s leaders provide strategic direction for the College in fulfilling its mission and preparing students to reach their full potential.

Elmhurst College traces its history back to 1871, when the German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest founded the Elmhurst Proseminary to prepare young men for theological seminary and to train teachers for parochial schools.Fourteen students enrolled that first year. They studied music, mathematics, science, history, geography, religion, German and English—all disciplines that remain in the curriculum today—along with Latin and Greek. All courses, including English, were taught in German.

In 1924, the school formally took on the name Elmhurst College and began conferring the bachelor of arts degree. The first leader of the new four-year college was a 1912 alumnus, H. Richard Niebuhr, who went on to become one of the premier theologians of the 20th century.Niebuhr, who envisioned Elmhurst as “an ever-widening circle,” undertook dramatic reforms. He built laboratories, hired a talented and progressive faculty, strengthened course offerings across the disciplines, and expanded library holdings.

Over the years, the College has welcomed an extraordinary array of renowned speakers. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel. Other speakers have included Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, writer Joyce Carol Oates, social activist Jesse Jackson and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.