Statistics at Southern Methodist University

SMU's Statistics program reports a stellar $76,759 starting salary that ranks in the 86th percentile nationally—but before parents get too excited, note the very small sample size of under 30 graduates. This matters because a handful of exceptional outcomes (or a few students heading into high-paying tech or finance roles in Dallas) could be skewing the numbers upward. The $19,750 in median debt is reasonable, creating a healthy 0.26 debt-to-earnings ratio that would be manageable even if actual outcomes prove more modest.

What's telling is the gap between national and state performance: while this program outperforms 86% of statistics programs nationwide, it only reaches the 60th percentile among Texas schools. With just 10 programs statewide, that median happens to match SMU exactly—meaning roughly half of Texas statistics graduates earn this amount or more. For context, the national median sits at $59,718, so Texas programs generally perform well.

The small cohort size means these numbers could shift dramatically year to year. If your child is genuinely passionate about statistics and attracted to SMU's strong business connections in Dallas, the modest debt load limits downside risk. Just understand you're looking at a data point that might not represent the typical graduate experience—and that other Texas schools may offer similar outcomes at lower cost.