Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College at a Glance
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Lake Forest College Featured Rankings
About Lake Forest College
According to Wikipedia, Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts institution since 1903. Lake Forest enrolls approximately 1,500 students representing 43 states and 80 countries. Lake Forest offers 32 undergraduate major and minor programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and features programs of study in pre-law, pre-medicine, communication, business, finance, and computer science. The majority of students live on the college's wooded 107-acre campus located a half-mile from the Lake Michigan shore, however, the population of commuting students has increased in the past few years.
Lake Forest College Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
| Annual Applications | Acceptance | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,811 | 57% | 90% | 73% | 1291 | 30 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.
How Much Does Lake Forest College Cost To Attend?
| Tuition and fees (in-state) |
|---|
| $58,902 |
| Income | Average Net Cost |
|---|---|
| 0 - 30K | $16,922 |
| 30K - 48K | $17,334 |
| 48K - 75K | $17,492 |
| 75K - 110K | $21,622 |
| 110K+ | $33,218 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.
How Much Do Lake Forest College Graduates Make?
Ten years after starting college, former Lake Forest College students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $70,470 a year, and 92% of those not still in school are working.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.
Lake Forest College's Demographics
Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.
| Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 1,984 | 1,954 | 30 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.
Where is Lake Forest College?
Lake Forest College is located at 555 N Sheridan Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045-2338.
How Safe is Lake Forest College?
Like every college that receives federal student aid, Lake Forest College publishes an annual security report with its campus crime statistics and safety policies. Its figures can also be looked up in the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security database.
Relative to its enrollment, Lake Forest College has a violent crime rate of 0.22% and a property crime rate of less than 0.01%. Lake Forest has a violent crime rate of 0.02% and a property (including theft) crime rate of 0.64%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.
What Is Lake Forest College Known For?
Lake Forest College is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
- Psychology
- Literature
- Economics
- Computer Science
- Philosophy
- Anthropology
- Sociology
- Biology
- History
- Business
- Communications
- Physics
- Political Science
- Religious Studies
- Education
- Chemistry
- Mathematics
Lake Forest College's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Lake Forest College's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Lake Forest College ranks #82 in the U.S. and #154 worldwide for influence in Psychology.
psychology DegreesLake Forest College ranks #255 in the U.S. and #743 worldwide for influence in Literature.
literature DegreesLake Forest College ranks #274 in the U.S. and #1445 worldwide for influence in Economics.
economics DegreesLake Forest College ranks #354 in the U.S. and #1592 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.
computer-science DegreesLake Forest College ranks #359 in the U.S. and #1198 worldwide for influence in Philosophy.
philosophy DegreesLake Forest College ranks #365 in the U.S. and #1123 worldwide for influence in Anthropology.
anthropology DegreesLake Forest College ranks #421 in the U.S. and #1464 worldwide for influence in Sociology.
sociology DegreesLake Forest College ranks #426 in the U.S. and #1793 worldwide for influence in Biology.
biology DegreesLake Forest College ranks #442 in the U.S. and #1260 worldwide for influence in History.
history DegreesLake Forest College ranks #461 in the U.S. and #1650 worldwide for influence in Business.
business DegreesLake Forest College ranks #527 in the U.S. and #1926 worldwide for influence in Communications.
communications DegreesLake Forest College ranks #603 in the U.S. and #2641 worldwide for influence in Physics.
physics DegreesLake Forest College ranks #698 in the U.S. and #2990 worldwide for influence in Political Science.
political-science DegreesLake Forest College ranks #822 in the U.S. and #3828 worldwide for influence in Religious Studies.
religious-studies-hub DegreesLake Forest College ranks #908 in the U.S. and #3935 worldwide for influence in Education.
education DegreesLake Forest College ranks #951 in the U.S. and #4082 worldwide for influence in Chemistry.
chemistry DegreesLake Forest College ranks #1397 in the U.S. and #5297 worldwide for influence in Mathematics.
math DegreesWho Are Lake Forest College's Most Influential Alumni?
Lake Forest College's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Psychology, Literature, and Anthropology. Here are some of Lake Forest College's most famous alumni:
- Karl Patterson Schmidt
- An American herpetologist .
- Diana Nyad
- An American journalist.
- Richard Widmark
- An American actor and producer .
- Sig Gissler
- An American journalist.
- Richard J. Ablin
- A Scientist--Prostate Cancer Screening.
- Emily Sherwin
- A .
- Steve Goodman
- An American folk music singer-songwriter.
- Philip Klinkner
- An American political scientist.
- William Duncan MacMillan
- An American astronomer.
- William Mather Lewis
- A United States teacher, university president, local politician, and a state and national government official.
- Walter A. Hill
- An American agricultural engineer.
- Ralph J. Mills Jr.
- A Poet, critic.
