Loyola University Chicago is one of the biggest Jesuit institutions in the US.

LUC, as it is commonly known, has six campuses spread across Illinois’ largest city, 11 schools and colleges, and student-staff ratios below 15:1. Its main Lake Shore campus is on the banks of Lake Michigan, while its Water Tower campus is right in the city centre, a stone’s throw from Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile”.

The third most populous city in the US, Chicago is famous for its food, sports champions, theatres, concert venues, and 500-plus parks. The birthplace of the skyscraper, Chicago’s skyline is adorned with iconic buildings.

Over 15,000 students on more than 200 different programmes make use of its six campuses across town, while LUC also bought a campus in Rome in 2009, which offers more than 40 courses of its own in the heart of the Italian capital. Around a third of LUC students study abroad, and the university now has additional centres in Beijing and Vietnam, as well as offering study programmes in more than 50 other countries. There are over 200 student organisations for those at LUC to join, while the Loyola Ramblers varsity teams compete at the highest level of college sport, and have won basketball and volleyball titles.

LUC alumni include William M. Daley, President Obama’s chief of staff, L. Scott Caldwell, the actor best-known for playing Rose in TV drama Lost, and John York, co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers American football team.