A private R1 research university in Cleveland, OH, admitting 36.54% of applicants with strong engineering and pre-medicine programs and a Cleveland Clinic affiliation.
Cleveland, Ohio
Case Western Reserve University is a private R1 research university in Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 1967 through the merger of Western Reserve University (founded 1826) and the Case Institute of Technology (founded 1880). It enrolls 6,437 undergraduates and 5,947 graduate students across the College of Arts and Sciences, the Case School of Engineering, the Weatherhead School of Management, and the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Engineering, biological sciences, social sciences, computer science, and pre-medicine account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees.
Case Western holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Case Western is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Case Western's partnerships with the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and the MetroHealth System create exceptional research, clinical observation, and pre-professional opportunities for undergraduate students interested in medicine and health sciences.
Official website: case.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Case Western scores 68.94 overall, rated Fair. Selectivity scores 94.23, reflecting a competitive 36.54% admit rate within a technically focused applicant pool. Outcomes (92.50) reflects an 87.17% six-year graduation rate and strong career outcomes. Value scores 24.84 and Affordability scores 8.35, the weakest pillars, driven by an average net price of $41,190 and a federal loan rate of 47.41%. All scores use verified federal data only.
Case Western admits 36.54% of applicants. Case Western is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores are competitive with peer technical universities. Case Western uses the Common App with required supplemental essays. The Early Decision deadline is November 1 (binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 15.
Applicants apply to a specific school within Case Western; the Case School of Engineering is the most competitive track. Case Western attracts students specifically interested in engineering, pre-medicine, and pre-law; the self-selected applicant pool means the academic profile of admitted students is higher than the 36.54% admit rate suggests.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Case Western Reserve University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Case Western charges $66,608 in tuition plus room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $83,000 before aid. The average net price after all grants and scholarships is $41,190, among the higher net prices in this peer group. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $19,025. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $18,506.
For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $26,159. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $53,061. Case Western's federal loan rate of 47.41% is among the highest in this peer group, with a median debt of $24,000. Case Western does not have a no-loan aid policy, and aid packages include loans as part of the award.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $70 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Case Western completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 87.17% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 75.54%, and first-year retention stands at 92.07%. The federal loan rate of 47.41% and median debt of $24,000 are notable: approximately half of Case Western students carry federal loans, reflecting the high net price and loan-inclusive aid structure.
Case Western graduates earn above the national median for private research universities. Median earnings are $75,613 six years after first enrolling and $87,989 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 91.40% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate.
The strong ten-year figure reflects Case Western's engineering and pre-medicine pipelines; graduates who proceed through medicine, engineering, or management typically show strong ten-year earnings above the median. Case School of Engineering graduates go into defense, energy, and technology fields; pre-medicine graduates who complete medical school appear in the ten-year earnings window as early-career physicians. Weatherhead School of Management graduates enter finance, consulting, and operations management.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Case Western enrolls 6,437 undergraduates on its campus in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, a mid-sized city of approximately 380,000. Asian students account for 30.48% of undergraduates; white 33.57%, Hispanic 11.64%, and Black 6.26%. Case Western's 30.48% Asian enrollment reflects the university's strong STEM focus and its attraction to international and domestic students with engineering and science interests.
Seventeen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 10.85% are first-generation college students, both below average for selective private universities. University Circle is Cleveland's cultural district, home to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra (at Severance Hall), and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, all within walking distance of campus. The Cleveland Clinic, one of the most highly regarded hospitals in the world, is located adjacent to campus.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Case Western Reserve University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Case Western Reserve University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 171 distinct programs across 24 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Case Western operates at a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 75.18% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty, below the peer group average. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $35,710 per year. The endowment stands at $3.05 billion.
Case Western has formal partnerships with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals for research and clinical training; these partnerships create research pipelines for undergraduate students in engineering, biomedical sciences, and pre-medicine that are unusual for a university of this size. Case Western School of Medicine's partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine is one of the most distinctive physician training programs in the country.
1,230 instructional faculty across 6 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 470 | 38% | $172,398 |
| Associate Professors | 258 | 21% | $123,190 |
| Assistant Professors | 260 | 21% | $105,934 |
| Instructors | 129 | 10% | $68,868 |
| Lecturers | 82 | 7% | $55,306 |
| No Rank | 31 | 3% | $57,625 |
Case Western's defining strengths are its 36.54% admit rate within a highly technical applicant pool, the Cleveland Clinic adjacency (unmatched pre-medicine access), strong ten-year earnings of $87,989, and a 30.48% Asian student population reflecting strong STEM engagement. UCD 68.94 Fair. The trade-offs are primarily financial: the average net price of $41,190, the federal loan rate of 47.41% (among the highest in this peer group), and median debt of $24,000 represent significant financial burden; and Cleveland is a struggling city, which affects quality-of-life perceptions though University Circle is a distinct cultural district.
Best fit for students targeting engineering, pre-medicine, or biomedical research who want direct access to a world-class clinical research ecosystem, qualify for meaningful merit or need-based aid, and are willing to carry loans in exchange for strong career pipelines.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Case Western: how the Cleveland Clinic partnership works, how selective admissions are for engineering and pre-med, what the loan rate means, and what graduates earn.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
For-profit colleges post the highest median net price of any sector and the lowest graduate earnings. They cost more than private nonprofits and pay less than publics.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
Scout uses AI and can make mistakes. Verify important numbers on the page.
