Hardin-Simmons University

Admission to Hardin-Simmons University is very accessible, though its national standing has slipped in recent years. In the US News Best Colleges rankings, the university was ranked 331 in 2023 and fell to 395 in 2026. For the class entering in 2025, the university admitted 90 percent of applicants, an admit rate higher than 84 percent of all private research universities. Both male and female acceptance rates were high, leading to relatively few rejections. However, the institution faces considerable hurdles in drawing those accepted students to matriculate. The yield rate in 2025 was just 12.2 percent, higher than only 29 percent of peer institutions. For applicants, these indicators show that getting into the university is comparatively easy, but the school does not demonstrate strong pulling power among admitted candidates when they choose where to enroll.

Applicants evaluating Hardin-Simmons University encounter standardized testing benchmarks that place the institution in a widely accessible range. For the 2025 enrolled class, the median SAT score was 1100, which is higher than 14 percent of peer institutions among all private research universities. Enrolled students submitting ACT results posted a middle 50 percent composite range between 19 and 26. Test submission rates have declined over the years, with fewer than a third of entering students submitting SAT scores and one-fifth submitting ACT scores. Historical grade distributions show that successful applicants typically bring solid academic records, with over half of matriculated freshmen historically reporting a perfect unweighted high school grade point average. For prospective applicants, scoring around or above the school median provides a solid foundation for admission, especially when paired with consistent secondary school grades.

Undergraduate degrees at Hardin-Simmons University are moderately concentrated, with the top three bachelor's majors accounting for 34.6 percent of all undergraduate completions in 2025. The most popular bachelor's programs were general business administration, exercise science and kinesiology, and general biology. However, the largest undergraduate majors are not the institution's highest-ranked programs. Instead, recognized graduate offerings stand out, such as the master's program in physician assistant studies, which ranked 93 in the 2025 US News health rankings. International participation remains limited across academic fields, with international students making up 3.4 percent of bachelor's degree recipients in 2025 and zero percent of master's or doctoral graduates. For students focused on career compensation, federal earnings data from 2023 show that registered nursing graduates achieved the highest early compensation, with median earnings of $81,769 one year after graduation, comfortably ahead of business administration and education fields.

The student body at Hardin-Simmons University is predominantly White and Hispanic, with international and Asian students representing modest segments. In the 2025 entering class, international freshmen numbered 11, accounting for 2.9 percent of new undergraduate students, while Asian freshmen comprised only a few individuals. In the graduate division, Asian students represented a more noticeable cohort, totaling 24 students, or 6.4 percent of all graduate enrollees. In contrast, there were no international graduate students on campus. Continuing and transfer undergraduate groups likewise report low single-digit percentages for both Asian and international populations. For families and applicants reviewing campus life, these enrollment patterns point to a predominantly domestic and regional student community with limited cultural diversity.

The student body at Hardin-Simmons University shows a clear division in age between its undergraduate and graduate populations. In 2025, undergraduates were overwhelmingly traditional college age, with students aged 18 to 19 making up 44.5 percent of the undergraduate population, followed by those aged 20 to 21 at 36.3 percent. This heavy clustering among 18-to-21-year-olds reflects a conventional undergraduate campus environment centered on early-adulthood collegiate life. In contrast, graduate programs attract young professionals immediately continuing their education; students aged 22 to 24 constituted 54.3 percent of all graduate students, followed by those aged 25 to 29 at 23.8 percent. As a result, undergraduate student life is tailored to traditional high school leavers, while graduate student spaces cater primarily to young adults pursuing entry-level advanced degrees.

International student enrollment at Hardin-Simmons University has diverged significantly between degree levels over the past decade. At the undergraduate level, foreign enrollment has expanded, reaching 3.2 percent of undergraduates in 2025, which is higher than 41 percent of peer institutions among all private research universities. Conversely, international graduate enrollment has steadily dropped over time, reaching zero in 2025. Among graduating students in 2025, international students earned 3.4 percent of all bachelor's degrees, while representing zero percent of master's and doctoral degree recipients. At the bachelor's level, international graduates were narrowly distributed across a few academic disciplines. General biology had the highest concentration, with international students comprising 8 percent of graduating majors, followed by general business administration, while other major fields such as exercise science and economics had no international graduates. For prospective international applicants, the university represents an environment with a small undergraduate international community and no current graduate international presence.

Families exploring Hardin-Simmons University can compare several other four-year institutions within reasonable driving distance in Texas. Located approximately 139 kilometers away in Fort Worth, Texas Christian University is a private national university ranked 90th in the 2027 US News rankings. Moving northwest into Lubbock, Texas Tech University is a public research institution located about 146 kilometers from campus, holding a rank of 186 among national universities. Closer to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is situated roughly 154 kilometers away and holds a national university rank of 236. Additionally, University of North Texas is located about 158 kilometers away in Denton, with a national ranking of 208, providing another public higher education alternative in the wider region.

Evaluating campus safety at Hardin-Simmons University requires reviewing both the overall infraction rate and specific disciplinary reports. In 2025, the university registered a crime rate per 1,000 students of 16.6, up from earlier levels recorded in 2016. Across the three-year span from 2023 to 2025, substance infractions accounted for the largest share of reported campus safety matters. The institution recorded 23 disciplinary referrals for drug violations alongside 14 drug-related arrests during this three-year period. Other recorded offenses across those same years were less frequent, including 8 reported incidents of rape, as well as disciplinary referrals for weapons violations and reports of assault and dating violence. These metrics indicate that while student conduct and drug-related infractions represent the most common safety concerns on campus, prospective students and families should consider the full multi-year record when evaluating the residential setting.