Founded in 1963, the University of Missouri-St Louis is one of the four branches of the University of Missouri system alongside Columbia, Rolla and Kansas City. It is located on two campuses, the North on 50.6 acres vacated by the Bellerive Country Club in the late 1950s and the South on the Marillac College site incorporated in 1976. Notable facilities include the St Louis Mercantile Labour Library, the oldest library in the USA west of the Mississippi, dating to 1846.
Under the slogan "We transform lives", it aims to be "a beacon of hope, a force for good and a leader in the pursuit of excellence in education, impactful research and community service".
Of its roll of around 17,000 students in 2018, 1,200 were on the Pell Grant financial aid scheme run by the financial governments, while it has been rated among the best institutions in the country for both adult and ex-military students. More than two-thirds of its alumni live in the St Louis area, making a total of around 70,000 in and around the city.
Notable undergraduate provision includes the Pierre Laclade Honor College for the best students, the only School of Optometry in Missouri and engineering degree courses run jointly with the University of Washington, St Louis.
Research income grew by close to two-thirds between 2017 and 2018, much of the growth accounted for by the Missouri Institute of Mental Health, while the Whitney Harris World Ecology Centre has a highly regarded programme in biodiversity research. Fortune 25 company Express Scripts has had its headquarters on the campus since 2007. Student sports teams play in NCAA Division II as the Tritons.
