Is University of Missouri-St Louis Worth It?

University of Missouri-St. Louis gives you a solid financial deal for a public school in a major metro. You pay a net price well below most four-year universities, carry median debt of $20,000, and land at a median salary that clears $53,000 a decade out. Your debt-to-earnings ratio here works in your favor, and the low sticker price is the reason.

Your major decides everything. Electrical engineering graduates pull in over $72,000 while carrying less debt than computer science or mechanical engineering grads. Mechanical engineering pays well but comes with the heaviest debt load on the list at $27,250, so the payoff is real but the borrowing is steeper. Computer science, civil engineering, and management information systems all land you in the high $50,000s to low $60,000s, which pairs nicely with a St. Louis job market that hires in tech, healthcare IT, and infrastructure. Engineering and IT are where the money is here. the median across all majors sits noticeably lower, so a non-technical degree pulls that number down.

The main risk is finishing. A 57% graduation rate and a 68% retention rate mean roughly a third of students don't come back after year one. Debt without a degree is the worst outcome, and that's the trap to avoid at this school.

Watch the net price tiers if your family earns between $75,000 and $110,000. You pay more here,over $19,000,than families making over $110,000. Below $48,000, you pay around $9,000 to $10,000, one of the better deals in public education.

This school fits you if you're commuting locally, majoring in engineering or IT, and keeping costs down. Look elsewhere if you need heavy structure to graduate on time or want a residential campus experience.