Southern Methodist University Overview
Southern Methodist University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Dallas, Texas. SMU is located in a safe and convenient suburb.
What Is Southern Methodist University Known For?
- The 3% student loan default rate at SMU is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The highest award offered at SMU is the doctor's degree.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 68% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from SMU with a bachelor's degree make about $60,700 a year. That's 49% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- The average SMU student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
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Southern Methodist University Rankings
We have ranked SMU as #212 out of 2,320 colleges and universities in the country in our 2021 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #15 out of 159 schools in Texas.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
SMU has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#38 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#79 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at SMU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards SMU has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Colleges for Health & Physical Education | College Factual |
#10 | Best Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | College Factual |
#19 | Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | College Factual |
#26 | Best Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#28 | Best Colleges for Business, Management & Marketing | College Factual |
#56 | Best Business Schools | Business Degree Central |
Where Is Southern Methodist University?

Contact details for SMU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 6425 Boaz St, Dallas, TX 75275-0221 |
Phone: | 214-768-2000 |
Website: | www.smu.edu |
Facebook: | http://facebook.com/smudallas |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/smu |
How Do I Get Into SMU?
You can apply to SMU online at: www.smu.edu/Admission/Apply
Admission Requirements for SMU
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into SMU?
Approximately 47% of accepted students are men and 53% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 50%, and the acceptance rate for women is 48%.
Average Test Scores
About 36% of students accepted to SMU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 630 and 710. Math scores were between 640 and 730.
Can I Afford Southern Methodist University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At SMU, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $9,927 a year. That adds up to $39,708 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at SMU is 2.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Southern Methodist University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 5,170 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 6,273 full-time undergraduates at SMU, 51% are male and 49% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Southern Methodist University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 429 |
Black or African American | 284 |
Hispanic or Latino | 725 |
White | 4,035 |
International Students | 514 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 286 |
Geographic Diversity
Texas students aren't the only ones who study at Southern Methodist University. At this time, 43 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 99 countries are represented at SMU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Saudi Arabia.
Online Learning at Southern Methodist University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at SMU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 26th most popular in Texas for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of SMU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Southern Methodist University was 24.4%. This is the #802 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at SMU regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of SMU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Civil Engineering | 31% |
Computer & Information Sciences | 21% |
Computer Engineering | 6% |
Computer Science | 40% |
Entrepreneurial Studies | 11% |
Environmental Engineering | 42% |
Information Science | 7% |
Manufacturing Engineering | 38% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at SMU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at SMU.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Southern Methodist University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Jeffrey Beall under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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