Southern Methodist University
Private Research University in Dallas, TX. Six-year graduation rate 84%. Median 10-year earnings $78,354.
A decade after enrolling, the median Southern Methodist University student earns $78,354 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 84% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $19,500, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 84% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
63% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. With 15,245 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 16% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 670–740 | 266 (16%) |
| SAT Math | 670–750 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–34 | 160 (9%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Southern Methodist University →Academics
A 84% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 91% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The 11:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 7,115 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,106 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $48,179 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $23,544 at $0–30k versus $58,213 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 68% of students at an average of $37,431. Only 21% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,592 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $23,544 |
| $30–48k | $20,038 |
| $48–75k | $24,152 |
| $75–110k | $33,477 |
| $110k+ | $58,213 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,527 of these 7,106 students, totalling $9,133,866 — an average of $5,982 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dallas County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)