Enrollment Trends at SMU

The student population at Southern Methodist University is 12,116 (7,285 undergraduate and 4,831 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 473 (4.06%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at SMU is 60.13% which is increased by 874 over last 10 years. The graduate student population decreased by 401 and it has been decreasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 100 male students for every 100 female students, down from 108 in 2015.
669 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 126.01% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 11,941 where 12,116 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 6 year-over-year increases and 3 decreases. It peaked at 12,385 students in 2022 and was lowest at 11,643 in 2016. Overall, enrollment rose from 11,643 to 12,116 students, a net gain of 473 (4.1%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at Southern Methodist University since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	11,643	6,411	3,191	3,220	5,232	2,842	2,390
2016-17	11,739 96	6,521 110	3,258 67	3,263 43	5,218 -14	2,824 -18	2,394 4
2017-18	11,789 50	6,452 -69	3,257 -1	3,195 -68	5,337 119	2,828 4	2,509 115
2018-19	11,649 -140	6,479 27	3,325 68	3,154 -41	5,170 -167	2,716 -112	2,454 -55
2019-20	11,824 175	6,710 231	3,413 88	3,297 143	5,114 -56	2,647 -69	2,467 13
2020-21	12,373 549	6,827 117	3,507 94	3,320 23	5,546 432	2,887 240	2,659 192
2021-22	12,385 12	6,908 81	3,486 -21	3,422 102	5,477 -69	2,872 -15	2,605 -54
2022-23	12,053 -332	7,056 148	3,478 -8	3,578 156	4,997 -480	2,562 -310	2,435 -170
2023-24	11,842 -211	7,115 59	3,481 3	3,634 56	4,727 -270	2,454 -108	2,273 -162
2024-25	12,116 274	7,285 170	3,557 76	3,728 94	4,831 104	2,491 37	2,340 67
Average	11,941	6,776	3,395	3,381	5,165	2,712	2,453

Southern Methodist University Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 6,776 where 7,285 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Southern Methodist University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	6,411	6,160	3,062	3,098	251	129	122
2016-17	6,521	6,296	3,134	3,162	225	124	101
2017-18	6,452	6,240	3,150	3,090	212	107	105
2018-19	6,479	6,273	3,206	3,067	206	119	87
2019-20	6,710	6,519	3,316	3,203	191	97	94
2020-21	6,827	6,616	3,386	3,230	211	121	90
2021-22	6,908	6,728	3,401	3,327	180	85	95
2022-23	7,056	6,880	3,383	3,497	176	95	81
2023-24	7,115	6,948	3,391	3,557	167	90	77
2024-25	7,285	7,146	3,477	3,669	139	80	59
Average	6,776	6,776	3,291	3,290	6,776	105	91

Southern Methodist University Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 5,165 where 4,831 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at Southern Methodist University since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	5,232	2,700	1,572	1,128	2,532	1,270	1,262
2016-17	5,218	2,713	1,565	1,148	2,505	1,259	1,246
2017-18	5,337	2,813	1,560	1,253	2,524	1,268	1,256
2018-19	5,170	2,622	1,424	1,198	2,548	1,292	1,256
2019-20	5,114	2,634	1,381	1,253	2,480	1,266	1,214
2020-21	5,546	2,688	1,400	1,288	2,858	1,487	1,371
2021-22	5,477	2,638	1,325	1,313	2,839	1,547	1,292
2022-23	4,997	2,404	1,174	1,230	2,593	1,388	1,205
2023-24	4,727	2,412	1,214	1,198	2,315	1,240	1,075
2024-25	4,831	2,533	1,265	1,268	2,298	1,226	1,072
Average	5,165	5,165	1,388	1,228	5,165	1,324	1,225

Southern Methodist University Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 51.67%. The percentage was 58.84% 10 years ago and SMU still has a high percentage of white students. 8.09% of enrolled students is Asian and 7.65% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 16.23% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 58.84% to 51.67%. Asian enrollment grew from 6.14% to 8.09%. Black student enrollment increased from 6.02% to 7.65%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 10.74% to 16.23%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6926 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.6341 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at Southern Methodist University over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2015-16	38	715	701	1,251	16	6,851	309
2016-17	35	722	722	1,231	7	6,840	335
2017-18	29	755	691	1,295	11	6,774	362
2018-19	33	795	725	1,356	13	6,677	397
2019-20	25	824	727	1,453	9	6,859	417
2020-21	24	929	855	1,618	9	7,226	452
2021-22	23	974	871	1,675	10	7,198	470
2022-23	27	960	846	1,680	8	6,824	466
2023-24	35	951	904	1,786	10	6,395	470
2024-25	35	980	927	1,967	11	6,260	504
Average	30	861	797	1,531	10	6,790	418

Southern Methodist University Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

669 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 6% of total students. The number of online students has increased 126.01% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at Southern Methodist University from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	11,643	296	267	11,080
2016-17	11,739	420	339	10,980
2017-18	11,789	503	687	10,599
2018-19	11,649	501	603	10,545
2019-20	11,824	515	647	10,662
2020-21	12,373	3,213	626	8,534
2021-22	12,385	912	703	10,770
2022-23	12,053	892	706	10,455
2023-24	11,842	849	798	10,195
2024-25	12,116	669	1,002	10,445
Average	11,941	877	638	10,427

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Enrollment Trends at SMU

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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