Concordia University Chicago is private , coeducational , liberal arts university located on a 40-acre campus in the subarbun Village of River Forest , Illinois , 10 miles west of downtown Chicago . Formerly a college exclusively for parochial teacher education ,Concordia-Chicago is now a Comprehensive University offering more than 100 undergraduate  and postgraduate degrees , with more than 5,000 students . The University is a member of the Concordia University System , a nationwide network of colleges and universities affiliated with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod .

   Concordia Chicago, originally named Addison Teachers Seminary , was founded in the Lutheran tradition by Saxon German immigrants in 1864 . The University continues to maintain strong ties to its faith based heritage .  As a university rooted in the Lutheran tradition, Concordia-Chicago is one of the most affordable Christian liberal arts-based universities in the Midwest . They prepare their students academically , intellectually , practically and ethically for a meaningful career and life .