Impact Area

The environmental studies impact internship offers WashU students the opportunity to work with St. Louis organizations to positively improve and impact the quality of life through an environmental justice lens.

In early 2018, the Living Earth Collaborative: Center for Biodiversity was launched. WashU partners with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Zoo to advance the center’s mission. The mission includes advancing the knowledge of biodiversity and ensuring the future of the diverse species of earth. Students within the center can participate in research courses and internships that further accelerate the biodiversity work and the relation with these St. Louis areas.

The Creative Community Support programming helps bring together the literary arts and creative practice communities across WashU and throughout St. Louis. This support programming is meant to help foster relationships between faculty from different departments and school, support creative programs on campus and offer an inclusive environment in the literary arts at WashU. Projects include the St. Louis Literary Arts program, offers an up-to-date calendar of literary happenings in St. Louis, and co-sponsorship of events that may happen in the St. Louis area.

The Pivot 314 fellowship provides exceptional resources and support to graduate students who will contribute to the St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through the fellowship, graduate students engage with St. Louis entrepreneurial community and explore possible career pathways in the city. Programming is centered around leadership, communication and entrepreneurship, and hands-on experience with a local start up.

The Sustainability Exchange Course at WashU provides students and faculty with the opportunity to make an impact on sustainability projects in the St. Louis area. Project teams, which are made of a St. Louis client, a faculty advisor, and a group of students, all work toward a common goal. Since its creation in 2015, there have been 76 projects with over 350 students.

Washington University has announced the Gateway to Success Initiative, a $1 billion additional financial assistance commitment from the university that allows us to be immediately and forever “need blind” in our admission process for first-year domestic applicants. WashU will no longer consider an applicant’s ability to pay when making admissions decisions.

The WashU Pledge provides free undergraduate education to admitted students from Missouri and Southern Illinois. Grants cover the cost of tuition, fees, housing, and food. Students must be Pell-grant eligible or from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or less.

Through this initiative, WashU Admissions Officers dedicate outreach services to students from rural and small-town communities throughout Missouri and southern Illinois. The program includes a weeklong pre-college program for rising high school juniors designed to introduce them to WashU, the college application process, and the St. Louis area. The programming is free for all students accepted.

The Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program at WashU Medicine provides funding for pre-K through 12 grade projects to increase student involvement in STEM fields.

This eight day Summer Institute at WashU is for St. Louis metropolitan region high school teachers who either incorporate aspects of Black culture, history, and literature in their courses or teach at a school that offers or plans to offer the AP/African American Studies course. The Institute centers St. Louis as the focal point for various themes and topics related to African & African American Studies.