40-acre (16-hectare) campus in suburban River Forest, Ill. The institution, formerly known as Concordia Teachers College, was founded in 1864 and is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It enrolls roughly 2,500 students, almost evenly divided between the undergraduate and graduate level. About a third of the undergraduates come from outside of Illinois, mostly from the North Central region of the United States. Women outnumber men. The university requires freshmen to live in campus housing. Concordia awards bachelor's and master's degrees. The academic calendar is divided into quarters. About two thirds of the university's full-time faculty hold doctorates. Undergraduate fields of study include education, business, fine arts, liberal arts and sciences, computer sciences, exercise science, nursing, social work, and religion. Interested students can study off-campus at nearby Rosary College and at other institutions in the Chicago area. Roughly 10 to 15 percent of the undergraduates pursue advanced studies within a year of graduation. Concordia's own graduate programs are in education, human services, counseling, and church music. Extracurricular activities at the university include a choir, the student-run newspaper, drama club, and intramural sports. Varsity sports teams compete in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. |