SMU & Dallas

At SMU you can impact the world every day. Our intellectually rigorous campus offers an inventory of the possible by drawing on the resources of its location in Dallas, a larger-than-life, culturally rich city. As a magnet of opportunity, Dallas is among the leading centers in the nation for business, innovation, culture and service. BUSINESS

Business runs deep in Dallas’ DNA, from its founding in 1841 as a center of commerce in the region to its present stature as a global hub for finance, banking, technology, health care and other industries.

SMU and Dallas offer world-class preparation for a successful career. The Princeton Review ranks SMU No. 8 for best career services. Dallas’ position as an international business and cultural center has enhanced SMU’s ability to attract and retain top faculty and students, making SMU a nationally prominent university with a global reach. Our students have the skills and the preparation to pursue their passion and change the world from any corner of the globe.

Dallas has nearly 20 Fortune 500 companies. SMU students in every discipline have access to networks of professional connections in Dallas’ business-friendly environment through 4,400 internships in the region as well as work-study opportunities. Most of our students graduate with professional experience from internships or co-ops. Many among the 44,000 SMU graduates who live and work in the D-FW area are entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders who mentor SMU students.

ARTS

Dallas, the nation’s fifth-largest media market, is home to the largest urban arts district in the United States. The Dallas Arts District comprises the city’s leading visual and performing arts institutions; world-class museums; and a luminous cluster of performing arts spaces, including the Winspear Opera House – called America’s finest opera house by Opera magazine.

World-class resources in Dallas abound, like SMU’s Meadows Museum. This esteemed cultural landmark is the repository of one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside Spain.

Each year SMU presents 400-plus music, dance, opera and theatre performances, critically acclaimed by Dallas media as among the region’s best and giving students a unique cache of artistic experience.

Is it possible to quantify the “cool” factor? Forbes can, and it puts Dallas at No. 4 in its list of America’s Coolest Cities. Dallas beats a slew of East Coast and West Coast favorites, including Boston, San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Dallas is known for its entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approaches to the business of living. This is the city of Southwest Airlines, which invented a whole new style of travel. This is where TI engineers developed the idea of an integrated circuit that would become the microchip and change the way humans live, work and play.

The can-do spirit of Dallas helps fuel SMU’s intellectual environment to drive cuttingedge research, with far-reaching benefits for our world. It’s one reason why SMU is one of the fewer than 100 universities classified as “high research activity” institutions by the Carnegie Foundation.

COMMUNITY

SMU community service ranges from student volunteerism and programs advancing K-12 education to pro bono legal services and partnerships with area churches and arts organizations. Each year, more than 2,500 students contribute 200,000-plus hours of community service.

As an SMU student, you learn in a close-knit community with small classes while being surrounded by the excitement that comes with a city on the move. Tap into the energy of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area and home to about 6.5 million people. Dallas is on track to become the third- largest metropolitan area, increasing the wealth of opportunities for a successful career after college.