Bastyr University

Private · WA

Photo: Ninjanabe (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationWA · West

SettingSuburban

Undergrads39

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate—

6-yr grad rate—

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Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition—

Out-of-state tuition—

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity35.9%

Gender diversity82%

International0%

Identity—

Overview

Bastyr University, on a wooded former seminary campus in Kenmore, Washington near Seattle, is one of the leading institutions in natural health sciences — naturopathic medicine, acupuncture and East Asian medicine, nutrition, and midwifery. Most students are at the graduate level, and the university has built an unusually strong research program for a field where research infrastructure is often thin.

Academics

Programs combine rigorous biomedical science with training specific to each natural-health discipline, and Bastyr is known for taking research seriously — running clinical trials and scientific studies on natural and integrative therapies rather than treating the field purely as traditional or alternative practice. Clinical training happens in supervised teaching clinics that also serve the surrounding community.

Campus & student life

The Kenmore campus occupies a former Catholic seminary property with wooded grounds along Lake Washington's north end, giving it a quiet, contemplative setting distinct from the university's clinical rigor. The student population skews older and more career-focused than a typical undergraduate campus, given how much of the enrollment is graduate-level.

After graduation

Graduates become licensed naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, or midwives, and Bastyr's research reputation gives its degrees more standing within conventional healthcare circles than many other natural-medicine programs enjoy. Its alumni are prominent within naturopathic and integrative-medicine professional associations.

Worth knowing

Bastyr's research emphasis is what sets it apart within the natural-health-education field — it is often cited as the most academically rigorous and evidence-oriented school of its kind, which matters given ongoing debate over natural medicine's evidence base.

bastyr.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate—

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot reported

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Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying