FACTS ABOUT SMU
Profile
- A private university of nearly 11,000 students near the center of Dallas, SMU offers strong undergraduate, graduate and professional programs through seven schools — in the humanities and sciences; business; the performing, visual and communication arts; engineering; education and human development; law and theology.
- Students come from all 50
states, the District of Columbia, and 82 foreign countries, and
represent diverse economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
- SMU itself is a gateway
to the global community, offering 30 education abroad programs as well
as a unique campus in Northern New Mexico on the site of a historic fort
and 13th-century Indian pueblo.
- The University's 10
libraries house the largest private collection of research materials in
the Southwest.
- The internationally
acclaimed Meadows Museum houses one of the finest collections of Spanish
art outside of Spain and presents outstanding special exhibitions and
educational programming for youth and adults.
- As part of SMU's focus on
leadership, the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series and Hart Global
Leaders Forum bring national and world leaders to campus for lectures
and interaction with students.
- Founded in 1911 by what
is now The United Methodist Church, SMU opened in 1915 with support from
Dallas leaders. The University is nonsectarian in its teaching and
committed to freedom of inquiry.
- SMU’s Board of Trustees
includes a representative of the Faculty Senate, Alumni Board and
student body.
Academic Offerings
SMU is a private, comprehensive university offering
123 undergraduate degrees and 127 graduate and professional degrees,
including 25 doctorates. The University has seven degree-granting
schools:
- Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
- Meadows School of the Arts
- Cox School of Business
- School of Engineering
- Dedman School of Law
- Perkins School of Theology
- Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education
and Human Development
SMU also offers courses through numerous continuing education programs.
- SMU has several centers and institutes focused
on diverse and interdisciplinary subjects. They include the John G.
Tower Center for Political Studies, the William P. Clements Center
for Southwest Studies, the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and
Public Responsibility, the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship and
the Institute for Reading Research.
Academic Profile and Rankings
- The average SAT score of the first-year
undergraduate class has risen more than 80 points in the last eight
years.
- SMU consistently ranks in the top one-third of
national universities in the guide America’s Best Colleges,
published by U.S. News & World Report.
- Cox School of Business is recognized as a
leader in business education by such publications as BusinessWeek,
Forbes, The Economist, Financial Times, The
Wall Street Journal and U.S. News & World Report.
- Recent graduates include two Fulbright
Scholars and a Marshall Scholar.
- History Professor David J. Weber was named to
the National Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.
Libraries and Special Collections
The University’s 10 libraries house the largest
private collection of research materials in the Southwest, with nearly
three million volumes. Among them:
-
Fondren Library, SMU’s largest library, with more than one
million volumes.
-
Bridwell Library, housing one of the nation’s finest
religious studies collections and outstanding collections of rare books,
Bibles and manuscripts.
-
Underwood Law Library, the largest private law library in
the Southwest, serving SMU’s Dedman School of Law and the North Texas
legal community.
-
DeGolyer Library, named one of the most important public
holders of Western American books and manuscripts in The New
Encyclopedia of the American West. DeGolyer's collections include
the Archives of Women of the Southwest and collections of JC Penney,
Stanley Marcus and Texas Instruments.
Location
- SMU is located five miles north of downtown
Dallas near the intersection of U.S. Highway 75 and Mockingbird
Lane, a few blocks from a light rail station.
- The SMU main campus includes 76 buildings and
210 acres.
- SMU-in-Legacy, located north of Dallas in
Plano, includes four buildings on 18 acres and offers noncredit and
credit courses.
- SMU-in-Taos, a 295-acre campus with 25
buildings in Northern New Mexico, offers summer courses and includes
excavation of a 13th-century Indian pueblo.
Enrollment — Fall 2007
- Undergraduate
students 6,176
- Graduate and professional
students 4,653
- Total
enrollment 10,829
Minority students made up 21 percent of SMU’s total
fall 2007 enrollment. Students come to SMU from all 50 states and the
District of Columbia, with more than half of first-year students coming
from out of state. The fall 2007 enrollment included 747 international
students from 82 countries.
Students
- In fall 2007, 79.4 percent of first-year
students and 71.5 percent of all undergraduates received financial
assistance.
- 63.5 percent of fall 2007 undergraduates and
49.8 percent of graduate students reported a religious affiliation;
22.5 percent of all students reporting a religious preference are
Roman Catholic and 21.3 percent are Methodist. Also represented are
other Protestant affiliations and religions such as Judaism, Islam,
Hinduism and Buddhism.
- Approximately 450 students participate each
year in 30 education abroad programs offered in 16 countries
throughout Europe and in Asia, Australia and Africa, as well as a
program in Mexico.
- More than 2,500 student volunteers serve
annually through approximately 70 nonprofit agencies. Students also
participate in Alternative Spring Break service projects throughout
the United States.
- SMU is one of the few universities in the
nation to have a voting student member of its Board of Trustees.
- Approximately 180 campus organizations provide
opportunities for student involvement and leadership training.
Faculty
- SMU has more than 600 full-time faculty
members.
- 84 percent of full-time faculty hold the
doctorate or highest degree in their fields.
- The student-faculty ratio is 12-to-1.
Alumni
- SMU has approximately 100,000 alumni
worldwide, about 40,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Degrees Granted
During 2006-07, SMU conferred the following
degrees:
- Bachelor’s
degrees 1,656
- Master’s
degrees 1,285
- Professional (law and theology) degrees
275
- Doctoral
degrees 59
- Total degrees
conferred 3,275
Financial Support
- SMU’s endowment, ranked 55th
nationally, is $1.3 billion as of May 2007.
- The Campaign for SMU, which concluded in 2002,
surpassed its $400 million goal by raising $542 million to provide:
- 80 new endowments for academic programs
- 171 new student scholarships and awards
- 28 new campus life initiatives
- 16 new academic positions
- 14 new or renovated facilities
Since the campaign's end,
four other new facilities have been added.
Athletics
- SMU joined Conference USA in July 2005.
- SMU has been ranked as the top school in its
conference for 10 straight years in the Directors' Cup Division I
overall athletic rankings.
- Eight of SMU's 15 athletic programs scored a
perfect 100 percent in the NCAA Graduation Success Rates for 2007,
and all 15 SMU programs were equal to or better than the national
average.
- Each year SMU provides over 10,000 football
and basketball tickets for children in Dallas Independent School
District schools and community youth groups.
- SMU student-athletes visit DISD classrooms to
talk about the importance of reading in the VIP (Very Important
Pony) Reading Challenge Program, which gives children who read a
designated amount free admission to all SMU athletics events for the
year.
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