Southern Methodist University Overview

Southern Methodist University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Dallas, Texas. SMU is located in a safe and convenient suburb.

What Is Southern Methodist University Known For?

• The student loan default rate at SMU is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
• The highest award offered at SMU is the doctor's degree.
• In 2019-2020, 68% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, SMU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $72,514 a year. That's about 78% more than their peers at other schools.
• It takes the average SMU student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.

Southern Methodist University Rankings

According to our 2023 analysis, SMU is ranked #98 out of 2,018 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. Out of the 107 colleges in Texas, it is ranked at #5.

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
#68	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#81	Best Master’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.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Information Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#4	Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#14	Best Computer & Information Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#17	Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#27	Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#37	Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#39	Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#40	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards SMU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#9	Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools	College Factual
#11	Best Engineering Technologies Schools	College Factual
#31	Best Computer Science Schools	Computer Science Degree
#34	Best Communication & Journalism Schools	College Factual
#46	Best Psychology Schools	College Factual
#64	Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools	College Factual

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: https://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?

With an acceptance rate of 53%, SMU does not let just anybody through their doors! Make sure you spend enough time polishing up your application so you will make a great impression.

Approximately 48% of accepted students are men and 52% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 53%, and the acceptance rate for women is 52%.

Average Test Scores

About 40% 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 620 and 740.

SMU received ACT scores from 55% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 29 and 35. Math scores were between 26 and 31. Composite scores were between 29 and 33.

Can I Afford Southern Methodist University?

The overall average net price of SMU is $54,761. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At SMU, approximately 23% of students took out student loans averaging $11,378 a year. That adds up to $45,512 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at SMU is 2.1%. 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 6,827 undergraduate students at SMU, with 6,616 being full-time and 211 being part-time.

There are also 5,546 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 6,616 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	534
Black or African American	307
Hispanic or Latino	828
White	4,229
International Students	377
Other Races/Ethnicities	341

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

In 2019-2020, 3,839 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at SMU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 12th most popular in Texas for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of SMU

During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Southern Methodist University was $58,540 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The following table shows how SMU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Electronics Engineering Technology	#4	#4
Operations Research	#10	#10
Real Estate	#16	#16
Computer Systems Analysis	#16	#16
Sustainability Science	#22	#22
Manufacturing Engineering	#25	#25
Environmental Engineering	#31	#31
Natural Resources Conservation	#40	#40
Systems Engineering	#43	#43
Other Engineering	#47	#47
Entrepreneurial Studies	#47	#47
Natural Resources & Conservation	#58	#58
Civil Engineering	#70	#70
Computer Science	#70	#70

Online Growth Rankings of SMU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Southern Methodist University was 136.5%. This is the #350 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
Electrical Engineering	30%
General Engineering	60%
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	71%
Manufacturing Engineering	44%
Systems Engineering	37%

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.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Mechanical Engineering	#1
Operations Research	#1
Environmental Engineering	#1
Computer Systems Analysis	#4
Electrical Engineering	#4
Civil Engineering	#4
Real Estate	#4
Systems Engineering	#4
Manufacturing Engineering	#4
General Engineering	#4
Computer Science	#5
Electronics Engineering Technology	#5
Sustainability Science	#6
Computer Engineering	#7
Entrepreneurial Studies	#7
Information Science	#7
Finance & Financial Management	#10
Engineering-Related Fields	#13
Information Technology	#19
Marketing	#22
Engineering	#22
Engineering Technologies	#23
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies	#39
Accounting	#47
Computer & Information Sciences	#52
Business Administration & Management	#165
Business, Management & Marketing	#214

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.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	0	0	422	0	422
Finance & Financial Management	302	0	0	0	302
Economics	195	0	24	3	222
Law	0	0	0	221	221
Other Education	0	0	139	9	148
Accounting	81	0	63	0	144
Business Administration & Management	54	0	80	0	134
Information Science	0	0	116	0	116
Public Relations & Advertising	96	1	10	0	107
Health & Physical Education	84	0	21	0	105
Graphic Communications	0	49	53	0	102
General Biology	93	0	3	3	99
Liberal Arts General Studies	55	3	32	9	99
Statistics	67	0	27	4	98
General Psychology	85	0	8	0	93
Applied Mathematics	0	0	85	6	91
Mechanical Engineering	73	0	8	8	89
Mathematics	86	0	0	0	86
Educational Administration	0	0	56	24	80
Music	33	18	29	0	80
Theological & Ministerial Studies	0	0	68	11	79
Marketing	74	0	0	0	74
Computer Science	50	0	20	3	73
Electrical Engineering	14	0	45	7	66
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	58	0	58
Manufacturing Engineering	0	0	57	0	57
Journalism	52	0	0	0	52
Engineering-Related Fields	0	0	49	1	50
Public Policy	49	0	0	0	49
Romance Languages	47	0	0	0	47
Political Science & Government	47	0	0	0	47
History	43	0	0	1	44
Operations Research	37	0	6	0	43
Systems Engineering	0	0	43	0	43
Communication & Media Studies	41	0	0	0	41
Legal Research	0	0	39	1	40
Real Estate	39	0	0	0	39
Fine & Studio Arts	23	0	7	0	30
Other Health Professions	27	0	0	0	27
Philosophy	27	0	0	0	27
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	27	0	0	0	27
Taxation	0	0	26	0	26
General English Literature	21	0	4	1	26
Civil Engineering	15	0	4	3	22
Arts & Media Management	0	0	21	0	21
Drama & Theater Arts	17	0	4	0	21
Sociology	19	0	0	0	19
Multilingual Education	0	0	17	0	17
Computer Engineering	3	0	14	0	17
Chemistry	11	0	0	6	17
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	15	0	0	0	15
Teacher Education Subject Specific	7	0	8	0	15
Religious Studies	5	0	0	10	15
Dance	14	0	0	0	14
Environmental Engineering	5	0	8	0	13
International Studies	13	0	0	0	13
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution	0	0	13	0	13
Geological & Earth Sciences	9	0	0	4	13
Anthropology	7	0	3	3	13
Other Engineering	0	0	10	0	10
Design & Applied Arts	10	0	0	0	10
Physics	3	0	2	3	8
Area Studies	7	0	0	0	7
Sustainability Science	0	0	7	0	7
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	0	2	5	7
General Education	6	0	0	0	6
Writing Studies	6	0	0	0	6
Health Sciences & Services	0	0	6	0	6
Information Technology	0	0	5	0	5
General Engineering	0	0	4	1	5
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	5	0	0	0	5
Sacred Music	0	0	2	2	4
Special Education	0	0	3	0	3
Natural Resources Conservation	3	0	0	0	3
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	0	0	2	2
Germanic Languages	2	0	0	0	2
Medieval Studies	1	0	0	0	1
Entrepreneurial Studies	0	0	0	0	0
Insurance	0	0	0	0	0
Management Information Systems	0	0	0	0	0
Computer Systems Analysis	0	0	0	0	0
Electronics Engineering Technology	0	0	0	0	0
Engineering Science	0	0	0	0	0
Ethnic Studies	0	0	0	0	0
Housing	0	0	0	0	0
East Asian Languages	0	0	0	0	0
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	0	0	0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies	0	0	0	0	0
General Social Sciences	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	2,105	71	1,731	351	4,258

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.