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Engineering Scholars Program

The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) provides an opportunity for high-achieving high school students to be directly admitted into one of Saint Louis University's engineering programs.

Students are provided with opportunities to participate in activities designed to build their professional and technical skills, participate in research experiences as an undergraduate student, and achieve their B.S. and M.S. degrees in a combined five-year program.

Benefits

The ESP develops cohorts of engineering students, provides them with co- and extra-curricular experiences that build professional and technical skills, and prepares them to be successful in an accelerated bachelors-to-masters pathway by providing the following benefits:

  • Guaranteed admission to an accelerated engineering program where students can take up to 15 credits at the graduate level while classified as an undergraduate student. Credits count toward both B.S. and M.S. degrees.
  • Reduced tuition for the fifth year of the accelerated program
  • Priority placement in undergraduate research programs such as First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE), Summer Undergraduate Research Guided Experience (SURGE) and faculty-led research projects, as well as the opportunity to receive academic credit for that work
  • Priority placement in the Engineering and Innovation Learning Community
  • Mentorship and advising throughout the completion of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program
  • Pairing of peer and alumni mentors through The Mentor Collective
  • Opportunities to participate in seminar series to build technical and professional skills

Admission Requirements

Primary Route

Students must have at least a 3.75 cumulative GPA on their high school transcript and/or on previous university coursework. It is preferred that students apply for the ESP when they apply for admission to the SLU B.S. in engineering programs, but students could apply during their freshman year if they were admitted to SLU as “Engineering – Undecided” once they have officially declared an engineering major.

Essay Prompts for Application
  • The National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Scholars Program emphasizes using engineering skills to address some of the world's most pressing issues. Describe a Grand Challenge you are passionate about and how you envision using your engineering education and experiences in the program to contribute to solving this challenge. (150 to 250 words)
  • Guaranteed admission to the Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s (ABM) program provides a unique opportunity to earn both degrees in just five years. Explain how this pathway aligns with your academic and career goals and how you believe it will prepare you to make an impact in the engineering field. (150 to 250 words) 

Alternate Route

Students who have completed at least 15 credit hours at Saint Louis University, but no more than 30 credit hours, in an engineering program can apply for the ESP in a January submission window. These students must have at least a 3.50 GPA at SLU in addition to the 3.75 cumulative high school GPA.

Continuation Standards

To remain within the ESP, students must earn a B- or better in all engineering courses and maintain an overall University GPA of 3.0. Furthermore, they must be active participants in the program and participate in at least 60% of GCSP programming annually (working towards completion of three of the five competencies).

If a student fails to meet the above requirements while in the ESP, they have the option of retaking engineering courses where they received a grade lower than a B-, or they will not be able to continue in the ESP and will move to the standard B.S. degree track. Additionally, students are expected to be full participants in co- and extra-curricular programming that is offered. Failure to participate in at least 60% of annual program events will result in students being removed from the ESP and transitioned to the standard B.S. degree track.

Students who are no longer within ESP will still be eligible to apply to the engineering accelerated bachelors to masters programs during the normal application cycles or M.S. in engineering programs through the standard application method. In addition, if a student decides not to pursue their graduate degree in engineering at SLU through the ESP, their intentions must be communicated to the program director no later than the end of spring semester in year three.

Requirements to progress into the M.S.

Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative University GPA through the completion of their bachelor’s degree and have obtained a B or better in all engineering courses.

The ABM option requires completion of the standard requirements for an M.S. in addition to completion of the standard requirements of a B.S. The M.S. requires 30 credits of course work, six of which will be in thesis credit for the thesis option. Students may use up to 15 credits of coursework at the graduate level (5000 and above) to count for both the B.S. and the M.S. For the course-only option, 30 credits of course work is required. Specific programs of study for each student are developed under the guidance of a faculty mentor.