Saint Louis University Overview

Saint Louis University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Saint Louis, Missouri. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is Saint Louis University Known For?

• Students at SLU may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 9 to 1.
• The 2% 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 doctor's degree is the highest award offered at SLU.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 63% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, SLU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $56,500 a year. That's about 38% more than their peers at other schools.
• On average, it takes about 4.2 years for students from SLU to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.

Saint Louis University Rankings

According to our 2021 analysis, SLU is ranked #331 out of 2,320 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 56 colleges in Missouri, it is ranked at #5.

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
#87	Most Popular Doctor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#159	Best Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#235	Most Popular Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#301	Most Popular Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at SLU.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#1	Best Psychology Undergraduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Homeland Security Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#11	Best Business/Managerial Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#12	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#12	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#16	Best Human Resource Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#86	Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards SLU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#12	Best Colleges for Health & Medical Administrative Services	College Factual
#15	Best Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections	College Factual
#24	Best Colleges for Health Professions	College Factual
#29	Best Colleges for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	College Factual
#34	Best Colleges for Business, Management & Marketing	College Factual
#111	Best Nursing Schools	Nursing Degree Search

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
Website:	www.slu.edu
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?

With an acceptance rate of 64%, SLU does not let just anybody through their doors! Make sure you spend enough time polishing up your application so you will make a great impression.

Approximately 40% of accepted students are men and 60% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 63%, and the acceptance rate for women is 66%.

Average Test Scores

About 13% 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 590 and 690. Math scores were between 580 and 700.

SLU received ACT scores from 90% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 25 and 33. Math scores were between 24 and 29. Composite scores were between 25 and 31.

Can I Afford Saint Louis University?

The overall average net price of SLU is $46,583. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At SLU, approximately 53% of students took out student loans averaging $7,533 a year. That adds up to $30,132 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at SLU is 2.5%. 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 8,332 undergraduate students at SLU, with 6,691 being full-time and 1,641 being part-time.

There are also 4,467 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 6,691 full-time undergraduates at SLU, 39% are male and 61% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	752
Black or African American	306
Hispanic or Latino	448
White	4,512
International Students	360
Other Races/Ethnicities	313

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

There are 11 bachelor’s degree and 6 master’s degree programs available online at SLU. In 2017-2018, 1,838 students took at least one online class at the school.

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 2017-2018.

Online Growth Rankings of SLU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Saint Louis University was 9.9%. This is the #1,345 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
Air Transportation	15%
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	19%
Criminal Justice & Corrections	16%
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	6%
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	26%
Liberal Arts General Studies	26%
Public Health	1%
Social Work	1%
Transportation & Materials Moving	15%

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.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Transportation & Materials Moving	#7
Air Transportation	#7
Hospitality Management	#27
Homeland Security	#33
Communication & Media Studies	#52
Human Resource Management	#70
General Education	#76
Communication & Journalism	#80
Computer Information Systems	#90
Computer & Information Sciences	#200
Criminal Justice & Corrections	#213
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	#243
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	#245
Liberal Arts General Studies	#245
Nursing	#287
Education	#366
Business Administration & Management	#446
Health Professions	#476

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.

Major	Basic Certificate	Associate’s	Undergraduate Certificate	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Nursing	0	0	18	192	24	118	6	358
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	0	0	0	59	0	62	84	205
Medicine	0	0	0	0	0	0	179	179
Law	0	0	0	0	0	0	166	166
Business Administration & Management	2	0	8	15	5	115	0	145
Public Health	0	0	0	44	0	78	6	128
Social Work	0	0	0	27	0	95	3	125
Health & Physical Education	0	0	0	118	0	0	0	118
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	0	55	0	46	0	101
General Biology	0	0	0	87	0	5	2	94
Allied Health Professions	0	0	0	31	0	53	0	84
Accounting	0	0	0	52	0	31	0	83
Educational Administration	0	0	0	0	0	33	47	80
Marketing	0	0	0	69	0	0	3	72
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	0	68	0	0	0	68
Communication Sciences	0	0	0	24	0	42	0	66
General Psychology	0	0	0	66	0	0	0	66
Communication & Media Studies	0	0	0	48	0	6	0	54
International Business	0	0	0	38	0	15	0	53
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	0	0	0	51	0	0	0	51
Criminal Justice & Corrections	0	0	0	44	0	7	0	51
Human Resource Management	0	0	0	46	1	0	0	47
Business/Managerial Economics	0	0	0	46	0	0	0	46
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	0	0	0	2	0	41	0	43
Biomedical Engineering	0	0	0	41	0	0	0	41
Political Science & Government	0	0	0	34	0	6	0	40
Air Transportation	0	0	0	38	0	1	0	39
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	0	0	0	0	19	18	0	37
Health Sciences & Services	0	0	0	36	0	0	0	36
Philosophy	0	0	0	24	0	6	6	36
Computer Information Systems	3	0	0	15	0	17	0	35
General Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	27	5	32
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	0	0	30	0	0	0	30
General Education	0	0	0	22	0	7	1	30
Romance Languages	0	0	0	24	0	5	0	29
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	0	27	0	0	0	27
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	0	0	1	25	0	0	0	26
Management Information Systems	0	0	0	25	0	0	0	25
Computer Science	0	0	0	25	0	0	0	25
General English Literature	0	0	0	21	0	1	3	25
Mathematics	0	0	0	18	0	6	1	25
Nutrition Science	0	0	0	15	0	10	0	25
Economics	0	0	0	0	0	23	0	23
Chemistry	0	0	0	10	0	6	6	22
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	1	0	0	8	12	21
Sociology	0	0	0	20	0	1	0	21
Theological & Ministerial Studies	0	0	0	8	0	7	6	21
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	0	0	0	19	0	0	0	19
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	2	0	17	0	0	0	19
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	0	17	0	0	1	18
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	0	0	5	0	13	0	18
International Relations & National Security	0	0	0	18	0	0	0	18
History	0	0	0	10	0	3	3	16
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Civil Engineering	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Anthropology	0	0	0	15	0	0	0	15
Natural Resources Conservation	0	0	0	14	0	0	0	14
Area Studies	0	0	0	4	0	5	4	13
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	12
Special Education	0	0	0	0	0	1	11	12
Homeland Security	0	0	0	6	3	3	0	12
Ethnic Studies	0	0	0	9	0	2	0	11
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	11
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	0	0	0	2	0	3	5	10
Electrical Engineering	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	8
Medical Illustration & Informatics	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	8
Atmospheric Sciences & Meteorology	0	0	0	5	0	2	1	8
Computer Engineering	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Geography & Cartography	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	7
Drama & Theater Arts	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	7
Systems Theory	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	0	0	4	0	2	0	6
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	5
Physics	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
Pharmacology & Toxicology	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
Classical & Ancient Studies	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
Gerontology	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	4
Music	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4
Urban & Regional Planning	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
Child Development & Psychology	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
General Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
Public Administration	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
Engineering Physics	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Germanic Languages	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Non-Professional General Legal Studies	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Legal Research	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Public Policy	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Classical Languages & Literature	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Criminology	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Physiology & Pathology Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hospitality Management	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other Health Professions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Intelligence & Command Control Operations	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sustainability Science	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Urban Studies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arts & Media Management	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	5	2	28	1,867	56	967	595	3,520

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.