by our College Data Analytics TeamThis overview covers the essential stats on Washington University in St Louis, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Washington University in St Louis was awarded 496 badges in the 2026 rankings.
College Factual ranked WashU as #24 out of 3,449 colleges and universities in the country on its 2026 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
WashU is also ranked #1 on the Best Colleges in Missouri list.
See all of the rankings for Washington University in St Louis.
Washington University in St Louis has a very low acceptance rate of 12%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It’s probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to WashU just in case you don’t make the cut.
About 29% of students accepted to WashU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 730 and 770. Math scores were between 770 and 800.
WashU received ACT scores from 28% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 33 and 35.
Learn more about Washington University in St Louis admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at WashU is an impressive 7 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Washington University in St Louis is 71%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 96% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Washington University in St Louis enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at WashU for first-time, full-time students is 94%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Washington University in St Louis.
In the current academic year, there are 7,897 undergraduates at WashU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Washington University in St Louis.
The typical net cost at WashU is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for WashU$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K + $4,391 $2,321 $1,863 $19,344 $42,712
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of WashU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 WashU, approximately 12% of students took out student loans averaging $6,271 a year. That adds up to $25,084 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate 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. Get more details about paying for Washington University in St Louis.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Washington University in St Louis with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $86,182 in their early years. This is good news for future Washington University in St Louis graduates since it is 75% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Washington University in St Louis make the most money.
Washington University in St Louis is an private not-for-profit institution located in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs. Get more details about the location of Washington University in St Louis.
Contact information for Washington University in St Louis are given below.Contact Details Address: 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130 Phone: 3149355000 Website: www.wustl.edu Facebook: www.facebook.com/wustl/ Twitter: twitter.com/wustl
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 25 majors graduated from Washington University in St Louis. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates Multi-Disciplinary Studies 6,251 NA Management Sciences & Methods 467 NA Legal Research 400 $47,010 Computer Science 333 $92,741 Business Administration & Management 301 $108,627 Law 285 $90,605 Finance & Financial Management 261 $80,905 Applied Mathematics 236 NA Child Development & Psychology 214 NA Social Work 175 $42,327
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
592 students took at least one online class at Washington University in St Louis.
Learn more about online learning at Washington University in St Louis.
Footnotes
*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.
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