college report card

6 DFW universities make new Forbes list of America's top colleges

Southern Methodist University class of 2029

Southern Methodist University is the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in Texas.

SMU/Facebook

Six Dallas-Fort Worth universities, including Southern Methodist University, were just recognized on Forbes' new annual list of America's Top Colleges.

The ranking highlights 500 colleges and universities throughout the country that "produce successful, high-earning and influential graduates from all economic backgrounds, with less student debt." Rankings are determined based on each school's "return on investment," the average student debt, and graduate outcomes.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list this year, followed by Columbia University in New York (No. 2) and Princeton University in New Jersey (No. 3).

Southern Methodist University ranked just outside the top 100 as the the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in a Texas-wide comparison. The private Dallas university has a 61 percent acceptance rate and an undergraduate population of more than 7,500 students.

Forbes says the total cost to attend SMU adds up to $86,090 per year, and the university's average grant aid amounts to $36,850. Forbes also found that students graduate with about $14,284 in debt.

"Finance, economics, and accounting are some of the top majors at SMU," the university's profile says. "The university is eager to expand its research prowess, making plans to achieve the “Research One” (R1) status issued by the Carnegie Classification system."

Forbes also touts the university's famous alumni, which include former First Lady Laura Bush, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, and Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates.

SMU also ranked as Forbes' 21st best university in the South, the 61st best private college, and the 75th best research university.

Here's where DFW's five other top universities landed on Forbes' list of the 500 best American colleges:

No. 120 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
No. 141 – University of Texas at Dallas
No. 238 – University of North Texas, Denton
No. 246 – University of Texas at Arlington
No. 422 – University of Dallas

The Forbes rankings come on the heels of Princeton Review's much-heralded "The Best 391 Colleges: 2026 Edition," which included Southern Methodist University, University of Dallas, University of Texas at Dallas, and Fort Worth's Texas Christian University.

Only four Texas universities made it among Forbes' top 100 best American colleges: Rice University in Houston (No. 12), the University of Texas at Austin (No. 46), Texas A&M University in College Station (No. 61), and Trinity University in San Antonio (No. 82).

The report's author wrote that it would be an understatement to say that 2025 has been a "rough year for American colleges."

"Over the past eight months, President Donald Trump, his administration, and Congressional Republicans have waged financial and cultural war on higher education — freezing research funds, punishing efforts at campus diversity, constricting the flow of foreign students, raising the tax on some college endowments and curbing the generosity of student loan programs," the report says. "Despite this, American colleges are still delivering gold-standard undergraduate education."

The 13 remaining Texas universities that ranked outside the top 100 include:

No. 107 – University of Houston
No. 161 – Texas Tech University, Lubbock
No. 188 – Baylor University, Waco
No. 293 – St. Edward's University, Austin
No. 300 – University of Texas at San Antonio
No. 304 – Southwestern University, Georgetown
No. 342 – University of Houston, Clear Lake
No. 354 – University of St. Thomas, Houston
No. 359 – University of Texas, El Paso
No. 408 – Texas State University, San Marcos
No. 419 – Austin College, Sherman
No. 437 – Abilene Christian University
No. 449 – University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

universities rankings forbes america's top colleges innovation dallas fort worth southern methodist university texas christian university

Hottest Headlines of 2025

The top 10 stories that defined city life in Dallas in 2025

SMU/Facebook

Southern Methodist University is the 103rd best college nationwide, and it ranked No. 5 in Texas, Forbes says.

Editor's note: Stories about city life were some of our most-read headlines of the year in Dallas. Readers devoured stories about suburbs, schools, and transportation, curious to see what made the best-of cut for scores of rankings. And, of course, we all needed to check in with the world's richest people and see which ones live in Texas.

Here's a look back at the most-read Dallas city life stories of 2025:

1. 5 Dallas high schools rank among America's best in 2025, per U.S. News. Five prestigious Dallas-area high schools are living up to their reputations for top-tier education after being ranked among the best high schools in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings.

2. 27 Dallas billionaires land on new Forbes list of world's richest people. More billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 27 Dallas billionaires are among the richest people in the world, including Elaine Marshall, Lyndal Stephens Greth, and Jerry Jones.

3. Techy Dallas suburb is No. 1 hot spot for remote workers in U.S. A SmartAsset survey of cities with the biggest remote workforces has revealed Frisco is the No. 1 city with the highest share of remote workers in the nation. The study found over 40,000 Frisco residents work from home, which is more than a third of all of the city's workers aged 16 and older (117,193 total workers).

Person working from home Working from home comes with its own challenges, like picking which part of the couch to work from. Photo by Jodie Cook on Unsplash

4. 3 affluent Dallas neighbors dominate new list of wealthiest U.S. suburbs. Three well-to-do Dallas-area communities — University Park, Southlake, and Colleyville — are among the wealthiest suburbs in America in 2025, a report confirmed. The three affluent Dallas neighbors were lauded in GoBankingRates ranking of the 50 wealthiest U.S. suburbs, based on 2022 and 2023 average household income data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau.

5. 4 Dallas-area universities make 2026 list of world’s best schools. The University of Texas at Dallas, University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, and University of Texas at Arlington are among the top 1,200 schools included in the QS World University Rankings 2026. The Princeton Review agreed, also naming SMU, UTD, TCU, and University of Dallas to its best-in-the-U.S. list, while Forbes named six DFW universities to its list of America's top colleges.

6. 11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S. Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7. Dallas middle school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2026, per U.S. News. More than a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth elementary and middle schools have excelled on U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2026, with one that's first in class: The No. 1 best middle school in Texas is Dallas ISD's William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted.

8. North Dallas suburb lauded as 5th best U.S. city for working parents. Frisco already has a reputation as a great place for families and a top spot for remote workers, so it's no surprise that the city has clocked in as one of the best places in the country for working parents, too.

Frisco Frisco ranked No. 5 nationwide in a 2025 study. Visit Frisco/Facebook

9. City of Dallas to put a pause on curbside trash collection issue. In October, the city of Dallas put the curbside trash collection debate on hold. According to a release, the Sanitation Department temporarily paused implementation of an alley-to-curb program that was approved, in order to evaluate additional options for continuing alley service where residents strongly prefer it.

10. Dallas suburb proclaimed 8th best U.S. city to drive in, per report. Dallas roadways are no picnic, but in one neighboring town, it's easy street: A report by WalletHub puts none other than Plano on its list of the top 10 best U.S. cities to drive in for 2025.