Dallas, TX · Private · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Southern Methodist University
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$150,370
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $8,400.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Southern Methodist University, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Southern Methodist University
| Full price | $97,401 |
| After grants, at your income | $31,591 |
67% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $35,554 on average.
At this income, 54 of Texas's other 58 colleges cost less after grants, and 4 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. The University, Second Century, Distinguished and Provost scholarships pay partial or full tuition for outstanding academic success. President's Scholarships, the most prestigious, pay full tuition and fees plus a study abroad term.
Southern Methodist University's promise. Access SMU: additional merit scholarships to meet full need for Pell-eligible Texas students with family income of $100,000 or less. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Southern Methodist University, our scenarios for Texas households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $6,700 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Southern Methodist University says it awards for grades and test scores.
The University, Second Century, Distinguished and Provost scholarships pay partial or full tuition for outstanding academic success. President's Scholarships, the most prestigious, pay full tuition and fees plus a study abroad term.
Programs worth asking about
Southern Methodist University describes this in words that stop short of a promise, so we show it in its own words. Ask the aid office whether you qualify.
Access SMU: additional merit scholarships to meet full need for Pell-eligible Texas students with family income of $100,000 or less
Household income up to $100,000. Covers full cost of attendance.
- SMU says it meets full need, not the full bill. The student enters directly from high school as a full-time first-year student, receives a Pell Grant and an SMU academic scholarship, and sends the FAFSA and CSS Profile. The $100,000 limit assumes typical assets.
“Access SMU provides additional merit scholarships to meet full need for high-achieving scholars in Texas who receive Federal Pell Grants and SMU merit scholarships. Regardless of financial background Enter SMU as a full-time, first-year student directly from high school. Qualify for and receive a federal Pell Grant. 1 Receive a University, Founders', Second Century, Distinguished or Provost academic scholarship from SMU. Have a permanent home address in Texas. 1 Submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile®. 1 Family’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is $100,000 or less. 2 1. Additional qualifications and verification may be required. 2. With typical assets.”
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Southern Methodist University reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit.
The $6,700 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Southern Methodist University's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Texas, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Southern Methodist University at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Grants from the college
How many first-year students got a grant from Southern Methodist University, and the average, are the Department of Education's figures for full-time students who started in 2023-24. They cover every income. The prices after grants already count these grants, so don't take them off again. The Department of Education's page for Southern Methodist University →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Southern Methodist University's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% a year. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
Southern Methodist University's own budget for 2026-27 is $96,388. It also counts costs the university doesn't bill for, such as travel and personal spending. We leave those out.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Southern Methodist University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Saint Edward's University$29,119 a year
- Houston Christian University$30,224 a year
- Southern Methodist University$31,591 a year
- Concordia University Texas$32,140 a year
- Southwestern University$32,598 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Texas college →