Resources for SLU Families
Whether this is the first time you're sending a student to college or the fifth, it can feel overwhelming to learn the ins and outs of a new University setting. We've compiled a list of common Saint Louis University resources, as well as some books and websites that will help you support your SLU student's experience like a pro.
Useful Links
What's the Scoop at SLU?
What's the Scoop at SLU? Webinars
Pathways For Parents and Families
International Student Supporters
Sending your student to study in a new country is both an exciting opportunity and a significant adjustment. At Saint Louis University, we recognize the unique perspectives and concerns that international families may have as they support their student from afar.
This section offers resources to help you understand the U.S. higher education system, navigate travel and arrival logistics, and stay informed about your student’s experience on campus. You’ll also find information about cultural adjustment, safety, health care, and ways to remain connected despite distance and time zone differences.
- Visit International Student Services: Your student primary resource for visa requirements, travel guidance, and ongoing student support.
- Review Arrival and Orientation Steps: Understand what your student needs to do before and after arriving on campus.
- Admitted International Students Checklist: A step-by-step list of actions your student must complete before and after accepting their offer.
- I-20 & Visa Guidance: Students must arrive no more than 30 days before the start date on their I-20 or DS-2019.
- SEVIS Immigration Registration: Your student must complete immigration registration within 30 days of their program start date — failure to do so can result in loss of status.
- International Student Portal: Students activate their I-20 or DS-2019 and manage compliance through this portal.
- Tuition and Cost Planning: Explore billing timelines and options for paying from outside the United States
- Financial Aid for International Students: International students are generally not eligible for federal need-based aid (FAFSA) but may be eligible for certain loans and on-campus work opportunities
- Paying Your Bill: Payments can be made online via mySLU. Review international wire transfer and payment options
- Health Insurance Requirements: All international students are required to enroll in SLU's health insurance plan unless they can demonstrate comparable coverage
- Student Health Center: On-campus medical care for full-time, part-time and graduate students, staffed by SLU School of Medicine faculty
- University Counseling Center: Confidential mental health support for students navigating cultural adjustment and academic stress
- Campus Safety and Public Safety: SLU's Department of Public Safety provides 24/7 campus patrolling and emergency response
Transfer Student Supporters
Transferring to a new university is a significant milestone — for both students and their families. At Saint Louis University, we recognize that transfer students bring valuable academic experience and a strong sense of purpose. At the same time, the transition involves a new set of logistics, relationships, and adjustments.
This section helps families understand SLU's transfer process, from enrollment steps and credit evaluation to orientation, housing, and financial aid. Whether your student is coming from a community college or another four-year institution, SLU is committed to helping them finish what they started.
- Admitted Transfer Students Checklist: The official step-by-step guide for newly admitted transfer students, including deposit submission, mySLU setup, and housing
- Submit the Enrollment Deposit: Your student nees to log into Billiken Gateway to accept the offer and submit the deposit. This secures your student's place in the class
- Set Up mySLU Portal: The mySLU portal is your student's hub for class enrollment, housing, SLU email, billing, and more
- Transfer Credit Resources: Most general college-level classes with a grade of 'C' or higher transfer to SLU. Use SLU's course equivalencies tool to check specific courses
- Academic Placement Testing: After the enrollment deposit is processed, your student should complete any required placement tests to ensure proper course placement
- Transcript Submission: Official transcripts from every college attended must be sent directly to SLU at transfer@slu.edu or mail to the Office of Admission
- SLU 101 Transfer Session Dates and Registration: In-person and virtual session options are available. Your student registers through the Billiken Gateway portal
- Transfer Student Experience Overview: Learn about Fall Welcome, transfer mentors, the Transfer Student 'Cook In,' and ways to find your place at SLU
- Fall Welcome for Transfer Students: Multiple programs during Fall Welcome are designed specifically for transfer students to meet one another and connect with the community
- Housing and Residence Life: Transfer students with fewer than four completed semesters of college are required to live on campus
- Theme Housing and Learning Communities: An optional way to live with students who share similar interests or backgrounds
- Help them file FAFSA: File the FAFSA for consideration for state and federal aid
- Scholarships for Transfer Students: SLU automatically reviews admitted transfer students for merit-based financial aid. No separate scholarship application needed
- Student Financial Services: Review your student's financial aid award, billing timeline, and payment options through mySLU
Additional Books and Websites
Parents and families, we are pleased to provide you a complimentary copy of "College Ready: Expert Advice for Parents to Simplify the College Transition."
The book provides practical guidance on what should be done during the summer, during drop-off and throughout the school year. Chapters address top-of-mind concerns including packing, money, staying connected, promoting responsible independence and supporting academic success.
Checklists are included so you don’t forget anything and don’t do things you shouldn’t! And the book is full of ideas on how to start those tough, but very much needed, conversations.
Each chapter of "College Ready" is written by a university official, who works with families to enhance student success at the collegiate level.
"College Sophomore Ready" aims to help you navigate your student’s sophomore year, including the challenges and the joys it will bring. To download your copy, please visit this site.
The “sophomore slump” concept is not new or unfamiliar to most people. Students in their second year of college are often let down as they don’t receive the same fanfare they did the year before, classes get harder, and what they thought were solid friendships start to shift. Sophomores can struggle, but what about the parents, family members and supporters of these students? You may find your sophomore questioning things they have always been so certain of and maybe even asking you questions you don’t know how to answer. This might be something big, like wanting to change from a pre-med major to visual arts, or something minor, like joining the rock-climbing club when they’ve always expressed a fear of heights.
"College Sophomore Ready" includes:
- Chapters written by professionals in family engagement, mental health, study abroad, career services and second-year experience.
- Expert-written content that will help you as a college parent to guide your student on their journey with information, resources, and conversation starters.
- Helpful tips on how to best support your college sophomore student for success with dorm life, time management, setting goals, and other college essentials.
Families may have many experiences to contribute, and this book will provide perspective and guidance no matter your knowledge on each topic.
Parenting a College Student: Helping Your Student Succeed in the 21st Century
By Dr. F. J. Tally, Ms. Natalie Silver
This book provides tips and suggestions so parents can be better partners to their students in college. Chapters include choosing a college, paying for college, transitioning to college, academic success in college, taking notes in college, and beyond the classroom.
The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success
By Susan Dominus
Through profiles of real families, this book explores different parenting approaches and how they relate to children’s success, emotional health, and well‑being, offering nuanced insights rather than one‑size‑fits‑all advice.
Student Parent: The Fight for Families, the Cost of Poverty, and the Power of College
By Nicole Lynn Lewis
While focused on student parents, this book sheds light on the experiences of college students who are also parents, offering valuable perspectives for parents supporting non‑traditional or student‑parent families.
Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education, Second Edition
By Shawma Shapiro, Raichle Farrelly, Zuzana Tomas
The increase in the number of international students attending English-dominant schools brings benefits as well as challenges. The second edition of this best-selling book is filled with anecdotes, reflection questions, strategies, resources, and activities that can easily be adapted to curricula in various disciplines and provide instructors, as well as academic advisers and administrators, with tools for responding to common classroom challenges.
First in the Family: Narratives of First-Generation College Journeys
By Courtney Brown, Krishna Bista, Uttam Gaulee
First in the Family is a compelling anthology that amplifies the voices of first-generation college students and scholars from around the world. This volume captures deeply personal narratives shaped by resilience, identity, migration, and mentorship. Across diverse contexts; from remote villages to prestigious global universities where contributors share their experiences navigating systemic barriers and cultural expectations to achieve academic success.
CollegiateParent.com is passionate about education and helping parents and their students thrive during college. In everything we do, we aim to support the parent/student relationship and deepen the connection between families and the university’s community and resources.
College Parents of America’s mission is to promote greater student achievement while advising parents on how to best help their students.