10 Undergraduate Business Schools To Watch In 2025

Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business

On June 1, Southern Methodist University welcomed its 11th president, Jay Hartzell. That same day, Todd T. Milbourn stepped into the deanship of the Cox School, taking over after a particularly transformative period for the business school.

Matthew Myers served as Cox’s dean for nearly eight years, leading through a campus modernization, a rankings bump across a series of programs (including its undergraduate degree), and boosted the school’s endowment.

“In speaking with Todd, I know he has tremendous respect for the accomplishments of the faculty, staff, and students at the Cox School, and will build on that legacy to continue Cox’s ascent to global prominence,” Myers told P&Q in March when announcing his departure.

“Todd’s commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship, administrative leadership, and to community are readily apparent in both his record and his message.”

Milbourn comes to Cox from Washington University’s Olin Business School, where he spent more than 25 years as a finance professor and in multiple leadership roles.

Just a couple of weeks into his new tenure, Milbourn will oversee a business school that continues to evolve. This fall, its BBA will add two new specializations in management consulting and artificial intelligence for business. Meanwhile, the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership welcomed the inaugural cohort of the Spears LAUNCH Accelerator this summer.

And it’s all happening in Dallas, Texas, one of the fastest-growing corporate hubs in the world. Texas now claims more Fortune 500 companies than any other state. At Cox, they call this “Y’all Street” momentum.

“This is an incredibly special moment for SMU and the Cox School of Business. President Hartzell and Dean Milbourn say they are thrilled to be here to build on Cox’s strong position, unique community, and unrivaled assets,” Jim Bryan, associate dean of BBA programs, tells P&Q.

“The momentum is palpable. We have the leadership, facilities, and economic marketplace.”

Q&A WITH COX LEADERSHIP

P&Q was fortunate to connect with Dean Milbourn so early in his tenure, as well as Jim Bryan, associate dean of BBA programs. Both shared the features they believe make Cox a Texas B-school powerhouse and the excitement building on Y’all Street.

What are recent and upcoming program developments and innovations that will enhance the experience of future students?

Dean Todd Milbourn: The Cox BBA Program’s curriculum and training evolve with the corporate world. This year our BBA Program is adding two new specializations that go live in 2025-2026: management consulting and artificial intelligence for business. While these topics are certainly not new to our curriculum, these specializations allow for a formalized, credentialed program of study to add to our students’ majors.

Business programs, like the Cox BBA, must embrace change in the corporate world to remain competitive. With these new programs, we are doing just that.

Additionally, we are responding to the needs of our corporate partners by running a year-long tech bootcamp for students. This program will give our students extra training and practice in software and coding platforms that will display their elite talents in the recruitment process and throughout their careers. While not everyone needs to be an expert in designing the underlying computing engines, students do need expertise in leveraging their enormous power.

Entrepreneurship is essential to the future of business and leadership development. It goes beyond starting new ventures—it involves cultivating a mindset focused on innovation, problem-solving, and initiative. This enterprising spirit enables them to make meaningful contributions and drive progress throughout their careers, and we are further infusing entrepreneurial thinking into everything we do.

At Cox, entrepreneurs are supported by multiple institutes that provide support, training, and guidance to students developing new businesses. One huge innovation comes from the Cox School’s William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, which welcomed the inaugural cohort of the Spears LAUNCH Accelerator this summer. This intensive 12-week program is designed to supercharge student and alumni-led ventures, enabling these founders to sharpen their business models, build MVPs, prep for venture-scale growth and gain access to meaningful funding — all within a founder-first, innovation-driven community.

Any other notable news coming for 2025 that readers should know?  

Associate Dean Jim Bryan: SMU and the Cox School of Business are thrilled to welcome a full slate of new leadership to the University. On June 1, Jay Hartzell took over as SMU’s 11th President. President Hartzell arrived on the Hilltop having just finished serving as President of the University of Texas at Austin.

Prior to that role, President Hartzell served as the Dean of the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. This visionary leader, with a background in business finance education brings with him an exciting vision of the future of SMU. He recognizes that SMU is in a unique position at this special moment, and so very well positioned to take advantage of all opportunities that present themselves today and in the future.

Joining President Hartzell on June 1 is the Cox School’s 10th Dean, Todd Milbourn. Dean Milbourn arrives at the Cox School from Washington University’s Olin School of Business where over his 25 years he had multiple senior leadership appointments and 25 years as a faculty member in the finance department.

Dean Milbourn’s track record as an educator and forward-thinking administrator makes him a perfect fit for Cox. While at Olin, Dean Milbourn grew the faculty significantly, developed exciting new research centers, and received multiple teaching and research awards. He is known internationally as an expert on corporate finance, credit ratings, and executive compensation.

Dean Milbourn and President Hartzell share a vision for where the Cox School can ascend. It’s clearly an exciting time to be at SMU and the Cox School.

Additionally, the Cox School’s new state-of-the-art facilities in the David B. Miller Quadrangle are less than a year old and continue to enhance the classroom experience for students and faculty. Dean Milbourn will build on the legacy of his predecessor, Cox Dean Matthew Myers, who oversaw the $140M renovation and expansion project of the Cox School.  New and exciting leadership combined with outstanding facilities make this one of the most exciting times in the Cox School’s history.

What are your program’s two biggest differentiators from other top undergraduate business programs? How do these prepare students for their careers?

Dean Milbourn: We are fortunate to be in Dallas, the epicenter of Texas’ economic dynamism and one of the fastest-growing corporate hubs in the world. If Texas were a nation, it would be the 8th largest economy globally. Texas is unmatched in its trajectory of growth, innovation, and corporate migration. More Fortune 500 companies now call Texas home than any other state, and that number continues to rise. These companies aren’t just moving operations — they’re moving leadership, talent, and long-term investment into our backyard.

Every great corporate center needs a great business school, and the Cox School of Business sits at the heart of this “Y’all Street” momentum. Our proximity to top firms in energy, finance, private equity, technology, healthcare, and professional services creates an unparalleled laboratory for real-time learning and impact. Students benefit from hands-on experiences—consulting projects, internships, mentorships, and innovation challenges—with global firms that are shaping the future of business.

One of our key differentiators is the alignment between classroom theory and boardroom practice, reinforced by Texas’ emerging governance infrastructure. Texas recently launched a specialized Business Court and passed groundbreaking legislation that modernizes corporate law, and positions Texas as a national leader in legal innovation and business-friendly governance. All this, plus the addition of three new stock exchanges launching in Dallas make this one of the most dynamic corporate centers in the world. These developments aren’t incidental — they reflect a deliberate statewide strategy to become the preferred legal and economic home for 21st-century companies.

Students also get outstanding career preparation through the Cox School’s research centers and institutes that support work both in and out of the classroom. Finance majors don’t just learn about markets in the classroom. They are supported by the EnCap & LCM Group Alternative Asset Center, which provides the skills necessary for purposeful careers in private equity and investment banking. Students studying real estate are supported by the Folsom Institute for Real Estate, which works to bridge the academic and professional real estate worlds. The Folsom Institute Advisory Board of over 200 members connects students to real estate companies in cities all over the country. Students gain real world training in these institutes, all key players in the Dallas entrepreneurial and venture capital community. At Cox, the classroom experience is just the foundation of our students’ business education.

What separates your graduates from other business school graduates?

Dean Milbourn: Admission to the SMU Cox BBA program is extremely selective. Students come from the top of their high school classes having already accomplished remarkable things. This is why we’ve placed students at companies like McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, BCG, KPMG, and American Airlines, among others. The difference is that Cox BBAs are immersed in a program that’s focused on delivering a world class curriculum with enterprising spirit, surrounded by a network of extraordinary, accomplished alumni, faculty and staff.

We are also hands-on with career preparation; our Career Management Center (CMC) is embedded within Cox, and we begin coaching our students before they arrive on campus as first-years. A primary goal in our career coaching experience is technical and soft skill-building, professionalism, and expanding their network. All first-year students complete Business Discovery, a career prep course that launches their career journey. We focus on skills like professional branding, behavioral and technical interview skills, online and in-person networking, and technical skills like Excel and how to leverage AI in the career search process. They also take a Business Communications course that teaches them executive presentation skills and professional business writing.

This focus on delivering high-quality career curriculum, upskilling, and individualized coaching has led to a larger percentage of our Class of 2025 BBAs accepting job offers at graduation at an all-time high average starting salary.

Explain the career services, programming, and extracurriculars that give your students an advantage in career outcomes?

Dean Milbourn: Some schools start on day one; we start before that. In addition to the Business Discovery class, we have a dedicated first-year coaching team that works with first-year students one-on-one until they declare their major. After that, each student is assigned an industry-focused career coach. These coaches work with them for the rest of their undergraduate program, supporting them with their internship and job search strategies, and encouraging them to attend over 200 employer on-campus recruitment events.

After the first year, students have access to more specialized training. We have groups dedicated to specific industries, such as our Collegiate Consulting Academy, which works with future consultants on case and technical interview preparation as well as how to excel as a consultant. The Cox Marketing Academy prepares students for careers in consumer product goods, branding, marketing agencies, marketing analytics and consulting. Finally, our Alternative Assets Program (Alts) recruits our elite BBA students interested in finance. To receive acceptance into the Alts program, students participate in over 30 rigorous mock interviews and a finance honors curriculum. Alts students have been recruited to work as top performing analysts at elite companies like Goldman Sachs, Centerview, PJT Partners, Evercore, BlackRock, Bank of America, and Jeffries.

Students also benefit from their peer and alumni networks to aid in their job search. Our student organizations pride themselves on the success their members have in the corporate world. Student groups like the Boulevard Investment Group, RISE, Traders, and Women in Business consider themselves the premier groups on campus for professional development in their fields. These are 100% student-run and the CMC supports their success.

When alumni look back on their time in your undergraduate business program, what would they consider to be their signature experience? 

Dean Milbourn: Cox BBAs will fondly remember their time learning from their peers as much as they will any individual experience. They’ll remember the group projects where they pushed each other, the relationships that turned into start-ups, the mentorship from older students that turned into internships and jobs, etc. The Cox culture is one of healthy competition, and akin to athletics–you are only as good as those with which you train. Our standards are high, and students rise to the occasion.

What is the most underrated feature of your undergraduate business program and how does it enhance the experience for your business majors?

Dean Milbourn: The Cox student organizations mentioned above are probably the most underrated feature of Cox. They don’t come up as much as they should in the recruitment process. When alumni reflect on where they got their start, so many of them point to mentors in their clubs and organizations that pushed them to be better. Again, our students learn as much from each other as they do from our faculty.

The Cox School is also supported by an Executive Board of international business leaders who volunteer their time, energy, and resources to the School. This board boasts an impressive roster of C-Suite executives from global corporations, two Federal Reserve Governors, and even two NFL team owners. The connections this group provides directly and indirectly to the student body are among the Cox School’s most valuable assets.

Which employers are the biggest consumers of your undergraduate talent and what have they told you about your alumni that make them so special?

Dean Milbourn: We’re fortunate that our students are placed at the top investment banks (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, RBC Capital Markets, Jeffries, etc.), the big four accounting firms (KPMG, Deloitte, EY, and PwC) as well as the big three consulting firms (Bain & Company, BCG and McKinsey). But we also send our talent to some of the top companies in Dallas and beyond, like American Airlines, AT&T, Amazon, just to name a few. These companies and firms tell us they consistently return to Cox for their BBA talent because they know they are getting poised, hard workers who are well-trained and are not afraid of a challenge. At Cox, truly there is a spirit that sets us apart.  All this and we are in what will become the rival financial center of the U.S. As we develop the school’s new strategic plan moving forward, there is no end in sight for what Cox students can achieve.

See here for our latest BBA Employment Report 2024. 

What else would you like readers to know about your program? 

Associate Dean Bryan: This is an incredibly special moment for SMU and the Cox School of Business. We have new, exciting leadership that has come to SMU and Cox because we are poised to take the next step. President Hartzell and Dean Milbourn say they are thrilled to be here to build on Cox’s strong position, unique community, and unrivaled assets. The momentum is palpable. We have the leadership, facilities, economic marketplace, and momentum. Now is the time to join us at the SMU Cox School of Business.

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