Marquette University

Marquette is a Jesuit Catholic university with over 8,500 undergrads and about 3,300 graduate students. Its campus in downtown Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan, about 100 miles north of Chicago. Marquette has 11 schools and colleges and offers about 80 majors and 80 minors. About 65% of students come to Marquette from outside of Wisconsin, hailing from nearly every state and some 80 countries. Biology, finance, engineering and nursing are all popular degree programs, which helps explain why recent graduates go on to earn comparatively high salaries, with median earnings of about $72,000. In addition to academics, Marquette is widely known for its athletics, with 14 men's and women's teams competing in the Big East Conference. At the beginning of each semester, students can learn about campus organizations at the popular O-Fest. The school's Jesuit affiliation makes its mark on campus life: The 600-year-old St. Joan of Arc Chapel, which has been at Marquette for six decades, is the heart of campus, and Mission Week is an annual period of reflection on spirituality at the school.