Saint Louis University Overview
Located in Saint Louis, Missouri, Saint Louis University is a private not-for-profit institution. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.
What Is Saint Louis University Known For?
- Students who want to work more closely with their professors have an easier time at SLU since the student to facuty ratio is 9 to 1.
- The 3% student loan default rate at SLU is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The highest award offered at SLU is the doctor's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 66% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from SLU with a bachelor's degree make about $56,500 a year. That's 38% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- The average SLU student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
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Saint Louis University Rankings
We have ranked SLU as #292 out of 2,587 colleges and universities in the country in our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #5 out of 56 schools in Missouri.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
SLU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#31 | Best Undergraduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at SLU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards SLU has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#34 | Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools | College Factual |
#38 | Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools | College Factual |
#41 | Best Health & Medical Administrative Services Schools | College Factual |
#123 | Best Nursing Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
#207 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#227 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Saint Louis University?

Contact details for SLU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | One North Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63103-2097 |
Phone: | 314-977-2222 |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/SaintLouisU |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/SLU_Official |
How Do I Get Into SLU?
You can apply to SLU online at: www.slu.edu/apply.php
Admission Requirements for SLU
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into SLU?
Approximately 39% of accepted students are men and 61% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 56%, and the acceptance rate for women is 55%.
Average Test Scores
About 35% of students accepted to SLU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 580 and 680. Math scores were between 580 and 690.
Can I Afford Saint Louis University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At SLU, approximately 54% of students took out student loans averaging $7,254 a year. That adds up to $29,016 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at SLU is 2.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Saint Louis University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 4,506 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 6,847 full-time undergraduates at SLU, 38% are male and 62% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Saint Louis University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 857 |
Black or African American | 310 |
Hispanic or Latino | 503 |
White | 4,508 |
International Students | 298 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 371 |
Geographic Diversity
Missouri students aren't the only ones who study at Saint Louis University. At this time, 43 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 79 countries are represented at SLU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Saudi Arabia, and India.
Online Learning at Saint Louis University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at SLU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 15th most popular in Missouri for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of SLU
The following table shows how SLU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Air Transportation | #13 | #13 |
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences | #13 | #13 |
Intelligence & Command Control Operations | #13 | #13 |
Transportation & Materials Moving | #16 | #16 |
General Education | #39 | #39 |
Homeland Security | #43 | #43 |
Social Work | #64 | #64 |
Online Growth Rankings of SLU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Saint Louis University was 34.0%. This is the #830 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at SLU regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of SLU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | 13% |
Communication & Journalism | 5% |
Communication & Media Studies | 5% |
Computer & Information Sciences | 3% |
Computer Information Systems | 17% |
Engineering | 20% |
Psychology | 9% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at SLU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at SLU.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Saint Louis University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By LouisianHTM under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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