by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is the data on what it actually costs to attend Southern Methodist University, including attendance costs, projected four- and two-year degree costs, average net price, debt outcomes, and how aid is distributed across income levels.
Use the section links below to navigate this overview:
Published attendance costs at Southern Methodist University comes to about $82,532.00 a year.
Here the cost is broken out three ways: no aid, average aid, and the aid a low-income student typically receives.
| Tuition and fees | $67,040.00 |
| + Room, board & other expenses | $15,492.00 |
| Total cost | $82,532.00 |
| That is 152% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $82,532.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$44,714.00 |
| Net price | $37,818.00 |
| That is 15% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $82,532.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$62,062.00 |
| Net price | $20,470.00 |
| That is 38% below the national average net price. | |
| Explore each piece on tuition and fees and living costs. |
Published costs have climbed year over year at about 3.6% per year, so the four-year total runs well above today’s cost. The tables below project the cost forward across a full degree, side by side for a low-income student with aid, a typical student with average aid, and a student paying full sticker price with no aid. The loan rows amortise the projected total over a ten-year, 6.8% repayment.
| Projected 4-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.6% |
| Freshman year | $21,214.00 | $39,192.00 | $85,530.00 |
| Senior year | $23,611.00 | $43,621.00 | $95,195.00 |
| Total 4-year net price | $89,592.00 | $165,520.00 | $361,221.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $34,131.00 | $63,057.00 | $137,612.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $1,031.00 | $1,905.00 | $4,157.00 |
| Total amount paid | $123,723.00 | $228,577.00 | $498,834.00 |
| Projected 2-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.6% |
| Freshman year | $21,214.00 | $39,192.00 | $85,530.00 |
| Senior year | $21,984.00 | $40,616.00 | $88,638.00 |
| Total 2-year net price | $43,198.00 | $79,808.00 | $174,168.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $16,457.00 | $30,404.00 | $66,352.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $497.00 | $918.00 | $2,004.00 |
| Total amount paid | $59,655.00 | $110,212.00 | $240,520.00 |
Read more in the net price section below.
Net price is what students actually pay after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published sticker price. This is the more honest cost figure for most families, since it accounts for institutional and federal aid.
| Average net price (on-campus) | $40,892.00 |
| Average net price (off-campus) | $41,778.00 |
The real cost varies by income because need-based aid scales with financial need. The breakdown below splits average net price across income brackets:
| Family income | Average net price |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $30,165.00 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $16,581.00 |
| $48,001 to $75,000 | $24,746.00 |
| $75,001 to $110,000 | $37,145.00 |
| Over $110,000 | $57,595.00 |
For a personalized estimate, try the Southern Methodist University Net Price Calculator, or reach out to the financial aid office.
Dig into how aid is awarded on the financial aid page.
The typical debt load for borrowers leaving Southern Methodist University stands at $15,311.00, which federal data classifies as a Low ($10-20k) burden category.
Here’s how debt at graduation distributes across borrowers:
| Percentile | Debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| 10th | $5,500.00 |
| 25th | $8,250.00 |
| Median (50th) | $15,311.00 |
| 75th | $26,000.00 |
| 90th | $31,000.00 |
How far apart the 10th and 90th percentiles sit tells you how uneven debt outcomes are.
Read the complete debt breakdown on the student loan debt page.
Family income tracks closely with debt at graduation. The breakdown below segments borrowers by family income at entry:
| Family income | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,000.00 |
| Middle income | $17,500.00 |
| High income | $14,000.00 |
On average, low-income graduates leave with $3,000.00 in extra median debt compared with high-income peers.
Whether your parents attended college is associated with differences in median debt at graduation.
| Student group | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,750.00 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,000.00 |
First-gen borrowers at Southern Methodist University carry $3,750.00 more debt than continuing-generation students.
Pell Grants are the largest source of federal need-based aid for undergrads. The Pell vs non-Pell debt gap reveals how borrowing differs by need.
The median debt difference between Pell-eligible and non-Pell graduates of Southern Methodist University works out to $5,000.00. This school is flagged by the Department of Education for Pell-related debt inequity.
The Department of Education default-rate tier for Southern Methodist University is Low (<5%).
| Window | Cohort default rate |
|---|---|
| 2-year | 3.2% |
For a sense of scale, Stafford disbursements at Southern Methodist University come to $650,860,867.00 distributed across 21,169 loan recipients.
Veterans and current servicemembers may be eligible for major federal education benefits including the GI Bill and Tuition Assistance from the Department of Defense.
| GI Bill recipients | 219 |
| Avg GI Bill amount | $27,609.00 |
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 10 |
| Avg DoD Tuition Assistance | $1,900.00 |
For the full rundown of veteran and military benefits, see the veteran aid breakdown.
Use the figures above as a launch point, then think through Southern Methodist University, a few questions are worth asking:
Use the pages below to go deeper on a specific part of the cost story:
Data sources. Figures on this page draw from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and MediaFactual editorial review. Net-price calculator and financial-aid office links are taken from the institution’s own published data.