Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University, private, coeducational institution in St. Louis, Missouri, affiliated with the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church. The school was founded in 1818 as Saint Louis Academy by Louis William DuBourg, bishop of the region that had formerly comprised the Louisiana Territory, including the city of St. Louis. Two years later the school was renamed Saint Louis College. In 1827 the Jesuit Order took control of the school. The school became the first university in the United States west of the Mississippi when it was chartered by the Missouri legislature in 1832. It awarded its first bachelor’s and master’s degrees two years later. In 1842 Saint Louis University became the first Catholic college in the nation to establish a law school, as well as the first university of any kind west of the Mississippi to do so. The university added a business school in 1910.

Saint Louis University confers bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees. It offers programs in the arts and sciences, humanities, business, the health professions, law, and religious studies. Research centers at the university include the Institute for Leadership and Public Service, the Emerson Electric Center for Business Ethics, and the Jefferson Smurfit Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Saint Louis University has three local campuses: the Frost Campus, which is the main campus located in the Grand Avenue midtown area of St. Louis; the Health Sciences Center Campus, about 2 km (about 1 mi) south of the Frost Campus; and the Parks College Campus across the Mississippi River in Cahokia, Illinois. The university also maintains a campus in Madrid, Spain.