Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a private research university in University Park, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South—now part of the United Methodist Church—in partnership with Dallas civic leaders. It is currently non-sectarian in its teaching and enrolls students of all religious affiliations. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production". As of fall 2025, the university had 12,544 students, including 7,545 undergraduates and 4,999 postgraduates. As of fall 2024, its instructional faculty was 1,163 members, with 788 being full-time.