Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University offers relatively accessible admission while maintaining a solid position on the national stage, holding rank 100 in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Gaining admission is comparatively attainable for applicants: in 2025, the university posted an acceptance rate of 75%, which is higher than 77% of its peers among private research universities with similar rank. However, the university experiences a modest draw among those it admits. Its 2025 yield rate stood at 13.9%, indicating that only a small portion of admitted students ultimately decided to enroll. Because a large majority of accepted applicants choose other destinations, the institution must admit broadly to meet its enrollment targets. For prospective students, this dynamic suggests that Saint Louis University can serve as an accessible option where qualified applicants face favorable odds of admission without confronting the steep selectivity seen at many other nationally ranked private universities.

Prospective applicants to Saint Louis University generally present competitive test scores and solid high school records. For the enrolled class in 2025, the median SAT score was 1305, which is higher than 39% of peer schools among reporting private comprehensive universities with similar rankings. Middle-range ACT composite scores spanned between the mid-twenties and low thirties. For international students, unofficial applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway show that admitted candidates had a median unweighted high school grade point average of 3.75 and a median SAT score of 1310. These figures suggest that strong candidates typically demonstrate consistent academic preparation throughout high school alongside standardized test scores around the university's middle range. Applicants targeting the institution should align their coursework performance with these benchmarks to position themselves comfortably within the typical incoming profile.

Academic offerings at Saint Louis University show distinct profiles across degree levels, with strong concentrations in health fields and technical programs. At the undergraduate level, degree conferrals are relatively balanced, with the top three majors accounting for 21.8% of all bachelor graduates in 2025, led by Registered Nursing, General Psychology, and General Biology. The university's highest national standings appear in professional disciplines: in the 2026 US News rankings, its graduate program in health care law ranked 1st and primary care medicine ranked 1st, while undergraduate programs in entrepreneurship and international business each ranked 15th in 2027. At the master's level, enrollment is heavily clustered in technology, where Computer and Information Sciences alone produced 1,040 graduates in 2025. According to 2023 earnings data, graduates in engineering fields reported the highest starting compensation, with Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering leading at a median of $82,384 one year after graduation.

Saint Louis University enrolled 17,059 students across all degree levels in 2025. The undergraduate population features meaningful representation from diverse backgrounds, with female students making up the majority of undergraduates. Among first-year freshmen, Asian students accounted for 16.3% of the class, while international students represented 5.3%. Continuing undergraduates show a similar distribution, with Asian and international students maintaining stable shares across class years. In contrast, the graduate division exhibits a distinctly global composition. International students formed the largest demographic group among graduate students, making up 45.7% of that cohort, while Asian students represented a smaller segment of advanced degree seekers. Across the wider institution, domestic White students constitute the largest undergraduate racial group, while the graduate student community brings together a substantial share of international degree seekers.

Saint Louis University displays a distinct age split between its undergraduate and graduate populations. In 2025, undergraduates were predominantly of traditional college age, with students aged 18 to 19 making up 32% of the undergraduate body and those under 18 accounting for 28.4%. Together with students in their early twenties, these cohorts create a campus environment structured around immediate post-secondary studies. In contrast, graduate students are concentrated in early adulthood, with individuals aged 22 to 24 representing 44.9% of the graduate cohort and those aged 25 to 29 forming another significant portion. This profile reflects students entering advanced professional and research programs directly after completing their bachelor's degrees.

International student enrollment at Saint Louis University presents a marked contrast between study levels. At the undergraduate level, the international share stood at 3.6% in 2025, which is higher than 37% of peer schools among 30 private comprehensive universities with similar rankings. In contrast, the graduate division has expanded rapidly over the past decade, lifting its international proportion to 45.7% in 2025. Degree conferrals from 2025 highlight this concentration: international students earned 71.7% of all master's degrees, compared to only 4.7% of bachelor's degrees. International master's graduates are concentrated almost entirely in technology programs, including General Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Science, and Informatics, where foreign candidates make up the overwhelming majority. Conversely, top undergraduate majors such as nursing, psychology, and biology remain dominated by domestic students, reflecting separate academic spheres across undergraduate and graduate divisions.

Families researching Saint Louis University can explore several other higher education options within the surrounding region. Just 4.1 kilometers away in the same city sits Washington University in St Louis, a private national university ranked 16th in the 2027 US News rankings. Also located nearby is University of Missouri-St Louis, a public national university situated 6.5 kilometers away and ranked 276th. Across the state line in Illinois, Principia College is located 22.4 kilometers from Saint Louis University, holding the 74th spot among national liberal arts colleges in the 2027 rankings. Further west in Missouri, University of Missouri-Columbia provides a large public flagship option 114.7 kilometers away, ranked 95th among national universities. These neighboring institutions offer distinct alternatives spanning research universities and liberal arts colleges within easy reach of Saint Louis.

Campus safety records at Saint Louis University show that overall incident levels have remained moderate. In 2025, the university recorded a crime rate of 7.9 per 1,000 students. Disciplinary infractions and property-related incidents account for the vast majority of documented occurrences. Over the three-year period from 2023 through 2025, alcohol-related disciplinary referrals formed the largest single category on campus, totaling 366 incidents. Property crimes were also notable, led by 109 reported motor vehicle thefts during that same span. Other recorded matters across those years included stalking, drug referrals, and burglaries in smaller quantities. For incoming students and their families, these figures illustrate that while substance violations and vehicle security represent the primary safety challenges, serious violent offenses remain relatively infrequent across the campus grounds.