Southern Methodist University

Overview

Rankings

• #6 Best Business Colleges in Texas
• #7 Best Communications Colleges in Texas
• #8 Best MBA Programs for General Management
• #8 Best MBA Programs for Operations Management
• #9 Best MBA Programs for Real Estate Finance
• #10 Most Test-Optional-Friendly Colleges
• #15 Best Engineering Colleges in Texas
• #16 Best MBA Programs in Texas

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Southern Methodist University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Based in Dallas, Texas, Southern Methodist University offers a realistic path to admission, with roughly 63% of applicants receiving an offer. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,428. The graduation rate is roughly 84%.

Acceptance Rate

63%

Retention Rate

91%

SAT Average

1428

ACT Midpoint

33

SAT Range

1340–1490

ACT Range

30–34

Full-Time Faculty

69%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$14,916

Student–Faculty Ratio

11:1

Diversity Index

0.64

First-Gen Students

16%

Applicants

16,150

Admitted

8,439

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Southern Methodist University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 15% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

15%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

9%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

9%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Southern Methodist University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Southern Methodist University is $67,040, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $40,892. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $23,544 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $19,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$67,040

Out-of-State

$67,040

Avg Net Price

$40,892

Median Debt

$19,500

Pell Grant Rate

13%

Federal Loan Rate

21%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Southern Methodist University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Southern Methodist University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Southern Methodist University earn a median of $78,354, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$65,556

8 Years

$77,799

10 Years

$78,354

Debt-to-Earnings

0.25x

Earning > $25K

80%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Southern Methodist University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Southern Methodist University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.77%, well above the typical college. About 4.4% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 39.7% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $176,400, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.77%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

39.7%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

4.4%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$239,666

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Southern Methodist University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Southern Methodist University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.83, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.01), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 6% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.83

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.01

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

6.0%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

Southern Methodist University produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 28 patents tied to its graduates, and ranks among research universities with a 9/100 research score.

Inventor Rate

0.56%

Top 41% nationally

Patents Produced

28

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

47

Downstream influence

Research Score

9/100

Times Higher Ed

Academic Influence

67/100

Citation impact (THE)

Inventors From Low-Income

0.40%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$-45,832,000

Top Programs

The fields Southern Methodist University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 26% $87,268 early-career
• Social Sciences 17% $73,682 early-career
• Communications 10% $58,630 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 7% $50,769 early-career
• Psychology 6% $33,335 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 6% $33,335 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 5% $90,849 early-career
• Engineering 4% $90,849 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.