Saint Louis University
Private Research University in Saint Louis, MO. Six-year graduation rate 80%. Median 10-year earnings $70,783.
Ten-year median earnings of $70,783 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 80% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 80% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Saint Louis University accepts 75% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 15,533 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 14% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 10% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 600–700 | 164 (10%) |
| SAT Math | 600–710 | |
| ACT Composite | 25–31 | 577 (36%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Saint Louis University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 80% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 88%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. With 10,519 undergraduates, this is a large institution — expect the administrative scale and the range of offerings that come with it.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,324 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $27,749 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $22,501 at $0–30k, $27,466 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 95% of students receive it, averaging $37,369. 43% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,769 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $22,501 |
| $30–48k | $21,854 |
| $48–75k | $21,880 |
| $75–110k | $21,702 |
| $110k+ | $27,466 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,120 of these 7,324 students, totalling $20,074,607 — an average of $6,434 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Louis City) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)