Mindful Mustangs

Dallas' SMU anointed No. 1 Christian college in new national ranking

SMU has some of the best Christmas lights in Dallas each holiday season.

Photo by Austin Anderson on Unsplash

Amen and Pony up! Dallas' Southern Methodist University has been named the best Christian college in the U.S. in a new national ranking of universities.

Niche, an education review and ranking website, has rated SMU No. 1 among Best Christian Colleges in America for 2025, two places ahead of cross-town rival TCU in Fort Worth, which is merely the third-best Christian school. St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, lands in between them at No. 2.

Baylor University only manages a No. 5 "best Christian" ranking, even though it was named one of the cheeriest colleges at Christmas last year. (But it has nothing on SMU's annual Celebration of Lights, which includes reading of the Christmas story by SMU president R. Gerald Turner from his family Bible.)

Out of all 1,517 U.S. colleges ranked in Niche's new survey, SMU comes in at a respectable No. 105.

SMU also ranks among the top 50 nationally in the categories of:

No. 7 Best Colleges for Sports Management in America
No. 9 Best College Campuses in America
No. 19 Best Colleges for Accounting and Finance in America
No. 23 Top Party Schools in America
No. 33 Best Colleges for Music in America
No. 37 Most Conservative Colleges in America
No. 41 Best Greek Life Colleges in America
No. 44 Best Colleges for Communications in America
No. 45 Colleges with the Best Student Life in America

SMU's full rankings can be found here.

The premier Dallas university receives an overall grade of A, earning an A+ in three of the 12 ranking categories — student life, party scene, and location. It gets an A for academics, professors, and campus; an A- for diversity, athletics, and campus food; a B+ for dorms; a B for safety; and a B- for value.

"I didn't have many expectations when I came to SMU, but now, I am so happy I decided to come here. SMU's campus is amazing, whether it comes to academics, extracurriculars, campus life, or being in Dallas," reads one five-star review by a student who saw the light.

Yale University tops Niche’s national list for 2025, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University.

Rice University in Houston ranks first among the best colleges in Texas, and No. 15 nationally. SMU ranks fifth in Texas for 2025.

The top 10 Texas schools for 2025 are:

No. 1 Rice University
No. 2 University of Texas at Austin
No. 3 Texas A&M University
No. 4 Trinity University
No. 5 Southern Methodist University
No. 6 University of Houston
No. 7 Texas Tech University
No. 8 Texas Christian University
No. 9 University of North Texas
No. 10 University of Texas at Arlington

Among colleges in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, SMU ranks No. 1, and TCU takes No. 2. Rounding out the top nine DFW are University of North Texas (No. 3), University of Texas - Arlington (No. 4), University of Texas - Dallas (No. 5), Texas Woman's University (No. 6), University of Dallas (No. 7), University of North Texas at Dallas (No. 8), and Southwestern Adventist University (No. 9).

Find Niche's complete 2025 college rankings here.

niche college rankings southern methodist university texas christian university universities university of north texas tcu

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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