
Irving, TXprivate nonprofitudallas.edu
The University of Dallas is a small, fiercely intellectual Catholic university where students debate Aristotle over coffee, stage Shakespeare in the courtyard, and spend semesters abroad in Rome. With a rigorous Core Curriculum that anchors every major, UD cultivates a tight-knit community of independent thinkers who graduate with uncommon clarity of purpose—and above-average earning power.
UD maintains a 53% acceptance rate, making it selective but not cutthroat—the kind of school that values intellectual curiosity over perfect scores. Middle 50% SAT scores range from 1140–1350, while ACT scores cluster between 23–29. The university is test-optional, accepting the Common Application, and emphasizes a Holistic admissionsA review that weighs the whole applicant — grades, essays, activities, and context — rather than relying on test scores and GPA alone. that weighs essays and recommendations alongside grades. Notably, 98% of admitted students receive some form of merit aid, with scholarships ranging from $1,000 to full tuition.
Every undergraduate at UD wrestles with the mandatory Core Curriculum, a Great Books program covering Homer to Nietzsche, alongside theology, math, and lab science. This forms the spine of UD’s 27 majors, where philosophy, theology, and classics punch above their weight (6% of majors each). Small seminars dominate—the student-faculty ratio is 11:1—and debates spill into the coffee shop. Graduate programs include business and ministry, but the crown jewel is the Rome Semester, where sophiors study the Eternal City’s art and history firsthand. As one student video puts it: 'We don’t just read Dante—we walk the streets he walked.'
UD’s Catholic identity is vibrant but not suffocating: 97% of students report feeling safe on campus, and the 50+ clubs range from swing dancing to Thomistic philosophy. Traditions bind the community, like Groundhog Day (a midnight reading of Piers Plowman) and Shakespeare on the Mall (student-performed Bard under the Texas stars). The Office of Student Life fosters 'ordered liberty'—think theology-on-tap discussions and service trips. As one YouTube video notes, freedom here means 'not license, but liberty oriented toward the good.'
UD graduates out-earn peers at similar colleges, with a median salary of $61,870 (vs. national $60,377). The 73% graduation rate is solid for a small school, and 81% of recent grad respondents landed promotions mid-degree. Alumni skew toward education, ministry, and business, with economics majors reporting $60,044 median earnings 5 years out. Notably, the Rome Semester’s immersive humanities training seems to translate into workplace agility—one alum calls it 'a boot camp for learning how to learn.'
At $29,520 net price, UD isn’t cheap, but 98% of students receive aid, with average packages hitting $33,180. Scholarships range from $1,000 to full tuition, and the university emphasizes affordability through work-study and loans. For context, the aid package often cuts the $46,000 sticker price by half—making UD competitive with Texas publics for middle-income families.
UD is a unicorn: a conservative Catholic school that prizes Socratic debate over dogma, where students quote Virgil at parties and land Wall Street jobs. Its Rome Semester is transformative, its Core Curriculum is relentless, and its community is tight-knit without being insular. As the Princeton Review notes, this is a place for 'independent thinkers who want to wrestle with big ideas—then go change the world.'