Student Population at SMU

How many students at SMU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, Southern Methodist University has a total enrollment of 12,116 students, including 7,285 undergraduate and 4,831 graduate students.

Gender Breakdown: 6,048 male students (49.9%) and 6,068 female students (50.1%) are attending .
Race and Ethnicity Breakdown: The two largest race/ethnicity groups are 6,260 White students (51.7%) and 1,967 Hispanic students (16.2%).
Class Level Breakdown: 7,285 undergraduate students (60.1%) and 4,831 graduate students (39.9%).
Class Delivery: 669 students are enrolled online exclusively, while 1,002 students take a hybrid mix of online and on-campus courses.

Compared to similar private (not-for-profit) Research University (high research activity) - which average 10,607 - SMU's body is relatively large.

Explore complete student demographics below, including gender ratio, race and ethnicity, age distribution, and distance learning statistics.

Explore Southern Methodist University

Enrollment by Gender and Class Level

By gender, 6,048 male (49.92%) and 6,068 female (50.08%) students are attending Southern Methodist University. The number of male students per 100 females students (male-to-female ratio) is 99.67.

By class level, 7,285 (60.13%) are undergraduate students and 4,831 (39.87%) are graduate students. Among undergraduates, 48.83% are male and 51.17% are female, while among graduate students, 51.56% are male and 48.44% are female.

Total Student Enrolled By Gender
	Total	Undergraduate	Graduate
Total	12,116	7,285	4,831
Men	6,048	3,557	2,491
Women	6,068	3,728	2,340

Student Distribution by Race/Ethnicity

By race/ethnicity, 6,260 White, 927 Black, and 980 Asian students out of a total of 12,116 are attending at Southern Methodist University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).

Southern Methodist University is moderately diverse with a diversity index of 69.2% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution demonstrates strong racial and ethnic diversity among its student body.

All Students

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Total)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	35	21	14
Asian	980	459	521
Black	927	417	510
Hispanic	1,967	917	1,050
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	11	6	5
White	6,260	3,198	3,062
Two or more races	504	232	272
Race Unknown	315	181	134

Undergraduate

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Undergraduate)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	23	12	11
Asian	603	278	325
Black	398	195	203
Hispanic	1,292	598	694
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	7	4	3
White	4,090	2,045	2,045
Two or more races	341	151	190
Race Unknown	252	139	113

Graduate

Race/Ethnicity Distribution (Graduate)
Race	Total	Men	Women
American Indian or Native American	12	9	3
Asian	377	181	196
Black	529	222	307
Hispanic	675	319	356
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	4	2	2
White	2,170	1,153	1,017
Two or more races	163	81	82
Race Unknown	63	42	21

Student Age Distribution

By age, SMU has 56 students under 18 years old and 38 students over 65 years old. There are 8,730 students under 25 years old, and 3,386 students over 25 years old out of 12,116 total students.

SMU has 7,128 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 157 students aged 25 and over.

It has 1,602 graduate students aged under 25 and 3,229 students aged 25 and over.

All Students

Student Age Distribution (Total)
Age	Total	Men	Women
Under 18	56	39	17
18-19	3,074	1,624	1,450
20-21	3,404	1,810	1,594
22-24	2,196	1,085	1,111
25-29	1,645	713	932
30-34	656	258	398
35-39	411	187	224
40-49	419	206	213
50-64	217	124	93
Over 65	38	22	16

Undergraduate

Student Age Distribution (Undergraduate)
Age	Total	Men	Women
Under 18	56	39	17
18-19	3,074	1,624	1,450
20-21	3,294	1,736	1,558
22-24	704	275	429
25-29	94	33	61
30-34	32	10	22
35-39	18	4	14
40-49	9	6	3
50-64	4	1	3

Graduate

Student Age Distribution (Graduate)
Age	Total	Men	Women
20-21	110	74	36
22-24	1,492	810	682
25-29	1,551	680	871
30-34	624	248	376
35-39	393	183	210
40-49	410	200	210
50-64	213	123	90
Over 65	38	22	16

Online Student Enrollment

Distance learning, also called online education, is very attractive to students, especially those who want to continue education and work in the field. At Southern Methodist University, 669 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 1,002 students are enrolled in some online courses.

505 students who live in Texas or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 164 students live in another State or outside of the United States.

Online Population

Online Student Population
	All Students	Enrolled Exclusively Online Courses	Enrolled in Some Online Courses
All Students	12,116	669	1,002
Undergraduate	7,285	0	491
Graduate	4,831	669	511

By Locality

Online Student Population by Locality
	Texas Residents	Other States in U.S.	Outside of U.S.
All Students	505	158	6
Undergraduate	0	0	0
Graduate	505	158	6

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)

Among 7,285 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 314 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 4.31%.307 students have transferred in as full-time status and 7 students transferred in as part-time status.

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)
	Number of Students
Regular Full-time	6,839
Transfer-in Full-time	307
Regular Part-time	132
Transfer-in Part-time	7

SMU Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions

How many students attend SMU?

For the academic year 2024-2025, 12,116 students are enrolled at SMU.

How many undergraduate and graduate students are at SMU?

7,285 undergraduate and 4,831 graduate students are enrolled at SMU.

What is the gender breakdown at SMU?

6,048 male (49.92%) and 6,068 female (50.08%) students are attending SMU.

What is the international student enrollment at SMU?

1,117 international students (9.22%) are enrolled at SMU, including 279 undergraduate and 838 graduate students.

How diverse is the student population at SMU?

SMU has a student population that is diverse: 6,260 White (51.67%), 927 Black (7.65%), and 980 Asian (8.09%) students are enrolled.

How many students at SMU are under 18 or over 65?

56 students are under 18 and 38 students are over 65 years old.

How many students at SMU take online courses?

669 students are enrolled exclusively online, and 1,002 students take some online courses.

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