SPU Facts

Interim President

Pete Menjares 

Mission

Seattle Pacific University is a Christian university fully committed to engaging the culture and changing the world by graduating people of competence and character, becoming people of wisdom, and modeling grace-filled community.

Denominational affiliation

SPU is a private university founded in 1891 by the Free Methodist Church of North America. Students and faculty represent more than 50 different Christian denominations.

Location

SPU’s 43-acre city campus is located in a residential neighborhood on the north slope of Queen Anne Hill, only 10 minutes from the heart of downtown Seattle. SPU also owns and operates a wilderness campus and field station on Blakely Island, and a seaside campus/retreat facility on Whidbey Island.

Enrollment

(Statistics are based on Autumn Quarter 2022)
Total enrollment: 3,114
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,428
Post-baccalaureate enrollment: 33
Graduate enrollment: 653

(Summer 2021–Summer 2022)
Continuing education enrollment: 1,306

Academic programs offered

Undergraduate majors: 70
Undergraduate minors: 67

Master’s degree programs: 26
Doctoral degree programs: 5
Graduate certificates: 14

Students

(undergraduate through doctoral)

Average age of students

Undergraduate: 20
Post-baccalaureate: 33
Master’s: 33
Doctoral: 34

Gender

Men: 31%
Women: 69%

Student-faculty ratio

12:1 (based on Common Data Set definition)

Undergraduate information

Average high school GPA

Entering freshmen: 3.56
Entering transfers: 3.30

Average SAT scores of entering freshmen

National average: 1051
Washington state average: 1072
SPU average: 1217

Class size

82% of Autumn Quarter 2022 undergraduate classes had enrollments of 30 or less.

Ethnic diversity

51% (undergraduate ethnic minority students)

Retention rate

78% (based on first-year persistence)

Six-year graduation rate

64% (reported Autumn 2022)

Top 10 undergraduate programs

By number of students enrolled Autumn Quarter and accepted into a major:

  1. Psychology
  2. Nursing
  3. Computer Science
  4. Business Administration
  5. Physiology
  6. Exercise Science
  7. Applied Human Biology
  8. Mechanical Engineering
  9. Integrated Studies
  10. Sociology

More information

For more information and facts about Seattle Pacific University, you can visit these sites:

Updated October 19, 2022

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