UMSL Points of Pride
Community Impact
The success of the university – and its students, faculty, and alumni – is inseparable from the success of the St. Louis area. No other university brings more to bear on the social and economic advancement of the region than UMSL.
- UMSL is ranked 14th nationally in a survey of "Best College and University Civic Partnerships." The survey measures economic, social and cultural impact on metro regions.
- UMSL was one of 115 colleges and universities selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the foundation’s 2010 Community Engagement Classification. The classification recognizes exceptional collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources.
- UMSL received a TOP 50 Award from the St. Louis Regional Commerce & Growth Association for its contributions in "shaping the future of St. Louis."
- More than 58,000 of our alumni live in the St. Louis area. That means UMSL has the largest university alumni population in the region, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Annually, they earn $3 billion, which is about $1 billion more than they would earn without their college degrees.
- The Des Lee Collaborative Vision at UMSL links 37 professors to more than 100 community partners and projects benefiting more than 500,000 people annually. It's the most comprehensive university-community partnership program involving endowed professors in the country.
- UMSL is home to NPR affiliate St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU. The station, which was founded in 1972, reaches 245,000 people each week in the bi-state area.
- Express Scripts is the largest corporation in the country with its headquarters located on a college campus. Express Scripts has 2,500 employees working on the UMSL campus.
Academic Excellence
UMSL provides excellent learning experiences and leadership opportunities through the university's outstanding faculty, ranked programs, innovative research and community partnerships.
- Five UMSL programs are ranked among the top 20 nationally in the Academic Analytics Faculty Productivity Index. They are: counselor education, information systems, criminology, evolutionary biology and teaching and learning.
- The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice is ranked second nationally by the Journal of Criminal Justice for scholarly research, and fourth nationally by U.S. News & World Report for the department's doctoral program.
- The International Business program at UMSL was ranked 15th nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2012 – its tenth year in the top 20.
- The College of Education ranks first in Missouri for the number of certificates issued annually to teaching professionals.
- UMSL optometry students earned a 98 percent pass rate for the three phases of the national licensure exam. The national average is 95 percent.
- The Whitney Harris World Ecology Center at UMSL is the nation’s largest and most diverse program in biology conservation. Academic and research partners include the Missouri Botanical Garden and Saint Louis Zoo.
- The College of Business Administration is featured in the 2011 edition of the annual guidebook "The Best 300 Business Schools," which is published by The Princeton Review.
- Graduates of the doctoral program in clinical psychology consistently score in the top 15 percent on the national licensure exam.
- On state board exams, our nursing students exceed a pass rate above 90 percent, which far outpaces state and national averages.
Student Pride
UMSL is proud of its motivated, active student body, which consists of over 13,000 undergraduates and 3,500 graduate and professional degree seeing students.
- Since its first Fulbright Scholar, graduate student William Maltby in 1966, UMSL has had 34 faculty members and 23 students earn Fulbright Scholarships. Women have earned 32 percent of the faculty Fulbrights and 65 percent of the student Fulbrights.
- More than 75 UMSL student-athletes representing eight sports have earned All-America honors since basketball standout Jack Stenner became the university's first All-American for his 1968-69 season.
- During the 2010-11 academic year, UMSL students will receive nearly $135 million in financial aid from the university and other sources.
- UMSL conferred 3,000 degrees in 2010 – an increase of 25 percent from 2001 to 2010.