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Admissions and Financial Aid
(Data as of March 31, 2008)
The St. Lawrence admissions staff is a highly successful and nationally respected team. Admitted student surveys consistently rate the admissions and financial aid process at St. Lawrence as intensely personal, sensitive, fair and authentic. Market demand for St. Lawrence has never been higher. Word-ofmouth testimonials among alumni, current students, current parents and college guidance professionals undergird the extraordinary growth in interest and appreciation of the St. Lawrence experience.

In the past decade, St. Lawrence has more than doubled the applications for admission, from 2,304 for the Class of 2002 to 5,414 for the Class of 2012 (data as of March 31, 2008). The acceptance rate for the Class of 2002 was 73% (not the University’s highest rate ever but illustrative of the decade) and that dropped to 33% (as of March 2008) for the Class of 2012. Yield remains constant, between 30% and 35%, SLU Application Pool and enrollments have ranged from a low of 1,853 in fall 1998 to 2,199 in fall 2006. The annual target for a first-year class is between 580 and 600 students. St. Lawrence has chosen to grow its enrollment only through retention.

In 2007-2008, St. Lawrence enrolled 2,198 undergraduate and 121 graduate students, 54.5% women and 45.5% men; 10.6% of undergraduates are U.S. minorities. Students come from 43 states, (the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories inclusive) and 46 nations. Thirty-five percent of the Class of 2011 ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. United States students of color are 11% of the enrollment, up from six percent a decade ago.

The University invites students to decide whether they will submit standardized test scores in the application process.

Over 80% of the St. Lawrence student body receives some form of financial aid, with between 64% and 68% receiving need-based aid. Eighteen percent of the students in 2007-2008 are Pell Grant recipients. Average St. Lawrence gift aid in 2007-2008 is $18,713 per student recipient of financial aid, with a total aid award (including campus employment and loans) of $29,806 per student aid recipient. The St. Lawrence University financial aid budget is $33.2 million in 2007-2008.