Seattle University Overview

Seattle University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Seattle, Washington. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is Seattle University Known For?

• Seattle U has an impressive student to faculty ratio of 10 to 1.
• The student loan default rate at Seattle U is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• The highest award offered at Seattle U is the doctor's degree.
• In 2017-2018, 69% of the faculty were full-time.
• A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Seattle U makes roughly $56,500 a year. This is 38% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
• It takes the average Seattle U student 4.2 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.

Seattle University Rankings

Seattle U landed the #364 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 58 colleges in Washington, it is ranked at #8.

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.

Seattle U has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#167	Best Master’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 Seattle U.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#2	Best Multilingual Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Student Counseling Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best Teaching English or French Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#15	Best Teacher Education Grade Specific Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#17	Best Clinical & Counseling Psychology Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#25	Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#35	Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#40	Best Education Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#86	Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#145	Best Business, Management & Marketing Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

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

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#4	Best Multilingual Education Schools	College Factual
#10	Best Student Counseling Schools	College Factual
#13	Best Teaching English or French Schools	College Factual
#31	Best Teacher Education Grade Specific Schools	College Factual
#84	Best Education Schools	College Factual
#93	Best Teaching Schools	Teaching Degree Search

Where Is Seattle University?

Contact details for Seattle U are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122-4340
Phone:	206-296-6000
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/seattleu
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/#!/seattleu

How Do I Get Into Seattle U?

You can apply to Seattle U online at: www.seattleu.edu/undergraduate-admissions/apply/

Admission Requirements for Seattle U

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	considered but not required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Seattle U?

The acceptance rate at Seattle University is 83%. This means that is not quite as selective as some schools, but you'll still need to submit a good application if you want to be considered by the admissions department.

Approximately 36% of accepted students are men and 64% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 84%, and the acceptance rate for women is 83%.

Average Test Scores

About 75% of students accepted to Seattle U submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 570 and 660. Math scores were between 560 and 670.

Seattle U received ACT scores from 40% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 23 and 31. Math scores were between 23 and 28. Composite scores were between 24 and 30.

Can I Afford Seattle University?

The overall average net price of Seattle U is $43,486. 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

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Seattle U, approximately 55% of students took out student loans averaging $8,001 a year. That adds up to $32,004 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Seattle U is 2.1%. 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.

Seattle University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 4,244 undergraduate students at Seattle U, with 4,045 being full-time and 199 being part-time.

There are also 2,806 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 4,045 full-time undergraduates at Seattle U, 40% are male and 60% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	849
Black or African American	137
Hispanic or Latino	533
White	1,583
International Students	392
Other Races/Ethnicities	551

Geographic Diversity

Washington students aren't the only ones who study at Seattle University. At this time, 36 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 72 countries are represented at Seattle U. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Online Learning at Seattle University

In 2019-2020, 6,192 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Seattle U has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 32nd most popular in Washington for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of Seattle U

The following table shows how Seattle U 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
Multilingual Education	#34	#34

Online Affordability Rankings of Seattle U Rankings

The following table shows how Seattle U is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Multilingual Education	#4	#4

Online Growth Rankings of Seattle U

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Seattle University was 2,218.8%. This is the #82 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Seattle U regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Seattle U majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Multilingual Education	10%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Seattle U ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Seattle U.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Multilingual Education	#1
Education	#25

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%.

Seattle University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Business Administration & Management	60	55	134	0	249
Law	0	0	0	185	185
Nursing	157	6	4	16	183
Computer Science	58	25	45	0	128
Finance & Financial Management	116	6	0	0	122
General Psychology	81	0	18	0	99
Accounting	53	13	32	0	98
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	46	19	31	0	96
Marketing	82	11	0	0	93
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	1	74	0	75
Public Administration	10	5	42	0	57
Health & Physical Education	30	2	23	0	55
Educational Administration	0	0	30	20	50
Mechanical Engineering	36	0	7	0	43
Criminal Justice & Corrections	22	0	20	0	42
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	41	0	0	0	41
Social Work	15	0	26	0	41
General Biology	40	0	0	0	40
Liberal Arts General Studies	40	0	0	0	40
Communication & Media Studies	35	0	0	0	35
Student Counseling	0	0	35	0	35
Applied Mathematics	0	0	35	0	35
Political Science & Government	34	0	0	0	34
Design & Applied Arts	32	0	0	0	32
Romance Languages	31	0	0	0	31
Civil Engineering	26	0	4	0	30
International Business	24	4	0	0	28
Arts & Media Management	12	0	16	0	28
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	26	0	0	0	26
Electrical Engineering	22	0	0	0	22
General English Literature	22	0	0	0	22
Mathematics	22	0	0	0	22
International Studies	22	0	0	0	22
Natural Resources Conservation	22	0	0	0	22
Theological & Ministerial Studies	0	2	14	6	22
History	21	0	0	0	21
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	20	0	20
Writing Studies	16	0	0	0	16
Allied Health Professions	14	2	0	0	16
Economics	15	1	0	0	16
Computer Software & Applications	0	15	0	0	15
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries	0	0	15	0	15
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	14	0	0	0	14
Sociology	13	0	0	0	13
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	12	0	0	0	12
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	12	0	0	12
Legal Research	0	0	12	0	12
Chemistry	12	0	0	0	12
Anthropology	12	0	0	0	12
Fine & Studio Arts	12	0	0	0	12
Business/Managerial Economics	11	0	0	0	11
Multilingual Education	0	0	10	0	10
Teaching English or French	0	0	10	0	10
Physics	10	0	0	0	10
Drama & Theater Arts	9	0	0	0	9
Philosophy	8	0	0	0	8
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	5	0	0	0	5
Special Education	0	0	5	0	5
Music	5	0	0	0	5
Computer Engineering	3	0	1	0	4
Ethnic Studies	4	0	0	0	4
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	4	0	0	0	4
General Visual & Performing Arts	3	0	0	0	3
General Business/Commerce	2	0	0	0	2
Religious Studies	2	0	0	0	2
Other Public Administration	2	0	0	0	2
Area Studies	1	0	0	0	1
Health/Medical Prep Programs	0	1	0	0	1
Journalism	0	0	0	0	0
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	0
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	0	0	0
Other Engineering	0	0	0	0	0
Systems Engineering	0	0	0	0	0
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	0	0	0
Medical Illustration & Informatics	0	0	0	0	0
General Physical Sciences	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	1,427	180	663	227	2,497

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 Joe Mabel under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.