Washington University in St Louis Overview

Washington University in St Louis is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Louis, Missouri. Saint Louis is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.

What Is Washington University in St Louis Known For?

• Students at WUSTL may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 8 to 1.
• Students at WUSTL have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 2%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at WUSTL.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 68% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, WUSTL bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $70,100 a year. That's about 72% more than their peers at other schools.
• It takes the average WUSTL student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.

Washington University in St Louis Rankings

We have ranked WUSTL as #65 out of 2,320 colleges and universities in the country in our 2021 Best Colleges list. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. Out of the 56 colleges in Missouri, it is ranked at #1.

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.

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

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#27	Best Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#32	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#39	Best Graduate Certificate Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#69	Best Doctor’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 WUSTL.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Construction Engineering Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#3	Best Business/Managerial Economics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Entrepreneurial Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#7	Best Accounting Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Human Resource Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Finance & Financial Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#11	Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#34	Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#41	Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

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

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#15	Highest Paid Computer Science Graduates	College Factual
#18	Highest Paid Computer & Information Sciences Graduates	College Factual
#23	Best Business Schools	Business Degree Central
#29	Best Colleges for Computer Science	College Factual
#46	Best Colleges for Computer & Information Sciences	College Factual

Where Is Washington University in St Louis?

Contact details for WUSTL are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	One Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899
Phone:	314-935-5000
Website:	www.wustl.edu
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/wustl/
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/wustl

How Do I Get Into WUSTL?

You can apply to WUSTL online at: admissions.wustl.edu

Admission Requirements for WUSTL

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	recommended
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	recommended
Recommendations	required
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into WUSTL?

The acceptance rate at WUSTL is 16%, which means the school is highly selective when deciding who will be admitted and who won't. Even if you have great grades and test scores, that may not be enough. So be sure to look for ways to make your application memorable.

Approximately 48% of accepted students are men and 52% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 16%, and the acceptance rate for women is 16%.

Average Test Scores

About 22% of students accepted to WUSTL submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 720 and 770. Math scores were between 750 and 800.

WUSTL received ACT scores from 81% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 33 and 35. Math scores were between 31 and 35. Composite scores were between 32 and 34.

Can I Afford Washington University in St Louis?

The overall average net price of WUSTL is $58,935. 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 WUSTL, approximately 19% of students took out student loans averaging $5,835 a year. That adds up to $23,340 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at WUSTL is 1.5%. 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.

Washington University in St Louis Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 7,751 undergraduate students at WUSTL, with 7,146 being full-time and 605 being part-time.

There are also 8,101 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 7,146 full-time undergraduates at WUSTL, 47% are male and 53% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Washington University in St Louis students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,198
Black or African American	612
Hispanic or Latino	677
White	3,604
International Students	579
Other Races/Ethnicities	476

Geographic Diversity

Missouri students aren't the only ones who study at Washington University in St Louis. At this time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 94 countries are represented at WUSTL. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, South Korea, and India.

Online Learning at Washington University in St Louis

In 2017-2018, 638 students took at least one online class at the school.

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

This school is the 33rd 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 WUSTL

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Washington University in St Louis was 29.7%. This is the #704 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at WUSTL regardless of major.

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

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Legal Professions	14%
Legal Research	15%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at WUSTL 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 WUSTL.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Legal Research	#5
Legal Professions	#28

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%.

Washington University in St Louis 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
Business Administration & Management	0	0	0	29	2	398	12	441
Legal Research	0	0	0	0	99	325	12	436
Finance & Financial Management	0	0	0	148	0	143	0	291
Computer Science	0	0	0	166	0	70	10	246
Law	0	0	0	0	0	0	239	239
Social Work	0	0	0	0	0	200	13	213
Child Development & Psychology	0	0	0	162	0	15	9	186
General Biology	0	0	0	140	0	27	0	167
Mechanical Engineering	0	0	0	66	0	76	4	146
Economics	0	0	0	112	0	20	9	141
Medicine	0	0	0	0	0	0	127	127
Anthropology	0	0	0	117	0	5	4	126
Mathematics	0	0	0	108	0	8	5	121
Electrical Engineering	0	0	0	25	0	81	10	116
Biomedical Engineering	0	0	0	69	0	23	18	110
Political Science & Government	0	0	0	88	0	6	7	101
Architectural Sciences & Technology	0	0	0	25	0	75	0	100
Marketing	0	0	0	98	0	0	0	98
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	0	0	0	0	0	0	88	88
Accounting	0	0	0	22	0	65	0	87
Public Health	0	0	0	0	1	84	0	85
Systems Engineering	0	0	0	50	4	23	3	80
Chemistry	0	0	0	47	0	15	18	80
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	0	0	0	78	0	78
Business/Managerial Economics	0	0	1	71	0	0	0	72
Behavioral Science	0	0	0	0	0	53	19	72
International Studies	0	0	0	64	0	0	0	64
Cognitive Science	0	0	0	61	0	0	0	61
Fine & Studio Arts	0	0	0	37	0	20	2	59
Chemical Engineering	0	0	0	35	0	22	0	57
Physics	0	0	0	33	0	5	15	53
Applied Mathematics	0	0	0	0	0	51	0	51
Design & Applied Arts	0	0	0	51	0	0	0	51
History	0	0	0	43	0	2	5	50
Information Technology	0	0	0	0	7	41	0	48
Romance Languages	0	0	0	42	0	2	3	47
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	0	0	0	34	0	0	6	40
Human Resource Management	0	0	0	24	3	13	0	40
Engineering-Related Fields	0	0	0	12	8	20	0	40
Sustainability Science	0	0	0	3	0	37	0	40
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	0	0	0	24	0	0	15	39
General English Literature	0	0	0	26	0	6	6	38
Area Studies	0	0	0	23	4	9	0	36
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology	0	0	0	28	0	0	4	32
Ethnic Studies	0	0	0	29	2	0	0	31
Health/Medical Prep Programs	0	0	0	0	31	0	0	31
Writing Studies	1	0	0	13	0	14	0	28
Other Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	10	17	27
Geological & Earth Sciences	0	0	0	13	0	6	8	27
Computer Engineering	0	0	0	14	0	9	3	26
Medical Science	0	0	0	0	0	26	0	26
General Education	0	0	0	16	0	5	4	25
Computer Information Systems	0	0	0	0	21	3	0	24
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	0	20	0	3	0	23
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	0	0	22	0	0	0	22
Genetics	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	21
Construction Engineering	0	0	0	0	10	11	0	21
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	0	13	0	3	0	3	2	21
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	18
Communication Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	5	13	18
Philosophy	0	0	0	17	0	1	0	18
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	0	0	0	17	0	1	0	18
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	0	0	0	3	0	0	14	17
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	0	0	7	0	5	4	16
Classical Languages & Literature	0	0	0	11	0	5	0	16
East Asian Languages	0	0	0	12	0	2	2	16
Statistics	0	0	0	0	0	15	1	16
Natural Resources Conservation	0	0	0	16	0	0	0	16
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	13	2	15
Germanic Languages	0	0	0	8	0	5	1	14
Drama & Theater Arts	0	0	0	10	0	4	0	14
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	0	0	11	0	1	1	13
Natural Resource Management	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	12
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	8	0	0	3	0	0	0	11
General Architecture	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Sociology	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	10
Materials Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	9
Music	0	0	0	6	0	0	3	9
Teacher Education Grade Specific	0	0	0	6	0	2	0	8
General Psychology	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
International Relations & National Security	0	0	0	2	0	4	0	6
Urban Studies	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	6
Other Public Administration	0	0	0	0	2	4	0	6
Public Policy	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	6
Health Sciences & Services	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	5
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Other Health Professions	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	5
Liberal Arts General Studies	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4
Materials Sciences	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	4
Classical & Ancient Studies	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3
Archeology	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3
General Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3
Middle Eastern Semitic Languages	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Religious Studies	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Geography & Cartography	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Dance	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Botany/Plant Biology	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Journalism	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Communication & Journalism (Other)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Public Relations & Advertising	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Teacher Education Subject Specific	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Other Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
General Engineering	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Iranian & Persian Languages	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	13	13	1	2,407	199	2,197	786	5,616

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 Bachrach44 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.