Saint Louis University (SLU, /ˈsluː/) is a private research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg, SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and the second-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. It is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. SLU's athletic teams compete in NCAA's Division I and the Atlantic 10 Conference. It has a current enrollment of 13,505 students, including 8,687 undergraduate students and 4,818 graduate students, representing all 50 states and more than 70 foreign countries. Its average class size is 23.8 and the student-faculty ratio is 12:1.

For nearly 50 years the university has maintained a campus in Madrid, Spain. The Madrid campus was the first freestanding campus operated by an American university in Europe and the first American institution to be recognized by Spain's higher education authority as an official foreign university. The campus has 675 students, a faculty of 110, an average class size of 15 and a student-faculty ratio of 7:1.

Fred Pestello is the current President, serving as the 33rd President of SLU since July 1, 2014. He is the first layman to be president in the school's history (although he was preceded by lay Interim President William R. Kauffman, J.D.)

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic universities. SLU, which also has a campus in Madrid, Spain, is recognized for world-class academics, life-changing research, compassionate health care, and a strong commitment to faith and service.

Guided by our enduring Jesuit mission, we offer our nearly 13,000 students a highly rigorous and deeply transformative education that helps them develop into bold, confident leaders. Rated among the nation’s top 100 research universities, SLU boasts more than 20 graduate and undergraduate programs ranked among the top 100 in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

Academically, ethics, spirituality and compassion take center stage, while outside the classroom, members of the SLU community provide more than 1.6 million service hours each year — just one reason we’re consistently known as a character-building college. In fact, more than 80 of SLU's courses integrate service into academics.

Inspired by our pioneering history while firmly focused on a promising future, Saint Louis University continues to move forward with an unwavering commitment to serve a higher purpose while always seeking the greater good.