The Princeton Review Names Saint Louis University a Best Value College

Saint Louis University made The Princeton Review’s list of Best Value Colleges for 2021 and was ranked No. 10 on its list of the Top 20 (Private) Schools for Making an Impact. SLU is the only Jesuit university on the Making an Impact list.

The impact ranking is based on student responses to questions on community service opportunities, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus student engagement.

“This ranking is a testament to the commitment and passion of our students, as well as the deep partnerships SLU is able to have with nearly 500 community partners who help our students develop into persons for and with others,” said Bobby Wassel, Ph.D., assistant director of SLU’s Center for Service and Community Engagement. “Even with COVID-19 restrictions, our campus was able to respond to the needs of our community in a spirit of solidarity.”

The Center for Service and Community Engagement offers SLU students opportunities to work in the community, organizing high-impact service opportunities, stimulating community-based learning and research, and educating students on ways to enact social change.

SLU’s culture of service has long been recognized by others. In 2020, The Princeton Review ranked SLU as No. 2 university in the country for community engagement and Great Value Colleges ranked the University as No. 7 in the country for community outreach.

Best Value Colleges

The Best Value Colleges list debuted in 2004 and annually names the colleges that receive The Princeton Review’s highest ROI (Return on Investment) ratings.

The Princeton Review analyzed data from its surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2019–20 as well as its surveys of students attending the schools. The company also factored in data from PayScale.com surveys of alumni of the schools about their starting and mid-career salaries as well as their job satisfaction. Data includes academic offerings, cost/financial aid, career placement services, graduation rates and student debt, as well as alumni salary levels and job satisfaction.

Of more than 650 schools The Princeton Review surveyed for this year’s project, 209 made the overall Best Value Colleges list for 2021.

“The colleges that we designate as our ‘Best Values’ this year are truly a select group: they comprise only about 1.2% of the four-year undergraduate institutions in the U.S.,” said Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review, in a press release. “These exceptional schools differ in many ways, yet they are alike in that all offer outstanding academics and excellent career services. As important to today’s college applicants and their parents: These colleges have a comparatively low sticker price and/or generous financial aid offerings. We recommend and commend them highly for everything their administrators, faculties, staff, and alumni are doing to educate their students and to guide them to post-college success.”

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 12,000 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.