#1 Full-Time MBA · Stanford, California
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#44 The Top 100 MBA Programs
SMU Cox School of Business
Southern Methodist University · Dallas, Texas · Private
“Dallas money's business school.”
Reviewed by David Krug · July 2026
Data anchored to the 2026 U.S. News table, Poets&Quants reporting, and school-published class profiles
78.2
GoodBP Score
$120,000Tuition, total
670Avg. GMAT
45%Acceptance rate
85%Placed at 3 months
$128,000Median base salary
Our review
Cox rides the most consequential corporate migration in America: the Dallas–Fort Worth metro keeps collecting headquarters — Goldman’s second-largest office rose downtown, Caterpillar and dozens more relocated — and the local business school harvests the management hiring. Finance, real estate, and energy-adjacent placement lead the class.
The Cox network functions like a Texan version of the Trojan family: local, loyal, and dense in exactly the institutions doing the hiring. Mid-80s placement and a private sticker softened by merit aid define the deal. Outside Texas the brand thins quickly — but the whole thesis is that you won’t want to leave.
What impressed us
- HQ migration. DFW keeps importing the employers.
- Local money network. Dallas capital hires its own school.
What gave us pause
- State-line fade. National recruiting requires initiative.
- Private sticker. Texas publics undercut it on price.
The verdict
The right MBA for the DFW boom — finance, real estate, corporate HQ roles. It's a Texas bet, and lately that's been the winning side.
78.2
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97.1
The Wharton School
#2 Full-Time MBA · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Read the review →#3 Full-Time MBA · Boston, Massachusetts
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