#33 | Todd Milbourn: The ACC Move Drove a 64% Application Spike at SMU

SMU undergraduate applications rose 64 percent in a single year, then another 10 percent. The dean of Cox has a specific theory: the move to the ACC.More on Todd Milbourn and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/todd-milbournTodd Milbourn is six months into the job after 25 years at Washington University in St. Louis, and he runs the business school like a division of a holding company, including what he calls the taxes we pay to center. He is also blunt that higher education is not too big to fail.His case for Division I sports is not about sports. Sharing a box score with Stanford does more academic work than a ranking does, which is why it was a hard requirement in his deanship search. Around that: a school that is a net importer of IQ points, with more than two thirds of SMU students and closer to three quarters of Cox students coming from outside Texas, and 75 percent of Cox graduates taking a job in Dallas.The pressure is real too. Fewer children were born during the Great Recession, small colleges are folding, and students line up after class to ask whether the entry-level job will still exist. He answers that directly, with the Industrial Revolution as the comparison. Plus Y'all Street: Goldman on track to have more people in Dallas than New York, JPMorgan north of the city, Schwab's headquarters, and the exchanges following.Todd Milbourn is the 10th dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, where he also holds the Tolleson Chair of Business Leadership. He spent 25 years at Washington University in St. Louis before moving to Dallas.KEY MOMENTS00:00 Is higher education too big to fail02:57 The ACC move as academic accelerant07:19 The university as a holding company12:52 "The taxes we pay to center"18:11 Student or employer: who is the customer21:49 Is the degree still worth it33:10 Will AI take the entry-level job49:16 Y'all Street and the new exchange54:33 Finance, real estate, and energy57:50 Applications up 64%, then 10% moreNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWFollow The Deal Table: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, XThe Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.This episode brought to you by: SMU Cox School of BusinessSponsored by Capital Southwest.