Maryland’s Best Colleges and Universities by Academic Stewardship
What are the best colleges and universities in Maryland if you reward schools for making the best use of their limited resources? Academic Stewardship asks how effectively schools manage their financial and human resources to gain the influence that makes them academically excellent. Schools that are exemplary in Academic Stewardship are doing everything in their power to help students and faculty achieve their full potential.
Colleges and universities in Maryland deserve to be recognized when they do more with less. It’s impressive when a large wealthy school can spend money lavishly on expensive buildings and programs. But it’s even more impressive when a small school with limited means is able to train and inspire students that the larger wealthier schools tend to ignore.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities reported in late 2021 that almost 75 percent of higher-education professionals at US colleges and universities felt financial constraints prevented their schools from effectively attracting students. Distracted by the size and amenities of larger schools, prospective students tended especially to be overawed by the big research universities.
Maryland’s smaller colleges, especially its liberal arts colleges, need effective ways of communicating their value to a world that celebrates “bigger is better” and “you need the best.” Unfortunately, most college ranking companies, such as U.S. News & World Report, define “best” in a way that devalues schools with smaller budgets and fewer students even when these schools do remarkable work in advancing their students’ education. By and large, college rankings penalize schools that serve underserved populations.
Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell, who for years now has criticized conventional college rankings for misrepresenting what’s good and valuable in education, we decided to construct a new ranking metric that highlights those schools that do more with less. That metric—called the Academic Stewardship metric—takes away both the size and the wealth advantage of schools, and focuses instead on how well schools use the resources available to them to advance the education of their students.
How We Measure the Academic Stewardship of Maryland’s Colleges and Universities
As a metric, Academic Stewardship is defined by a precise mathematical formula, which can be found in our Academic Stewardship white paper. Measuring the Academic Stewardship of Maryland’s colleges requires measuring two forms of stewardship: 1) Stewardship of financial resources (using the money they have responsibility without waste) and 2) Stewardship of human resources (doing their best to help students, faculty, and administration to flourish). Together, these two types of stewardship form what we call Academic Stewardship. If you want to learn more about the factors involved in Academic Stewardship, click the more button below.
- Stewardship of financial resources: To determine a school’s stewardship of financial resources, we factored in its undergraduate size, budget, endowments and reserves, as well as tuition and fees. All these data are available from the National Center for Educational Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. In addition, we factored in a school’s financial responsibility as gauged by the Federal Student Aid Office at the US Department of Education through its financial responsibility composite scores.
- Stewardship of human resources: To determine a school’s stewardship of human resources, we used our InfluenceRanking engine to track the influence of the school’s faculty and alumni but also to control for size of the undergraduate student body. We’ve found that measuring a school’s influence based on the contributions of faculty and alumni make in their fields of study but then also controlling for size of the undergraduate population is the single best indicator of academic excellence. We call this Concentrated Influence. Schools that rank highly in Concentrated Influence are schools that, given their available human resources, invest heavily in their students and faculty, and the results are demonstrable.
- We measure the influence of colleges and universities based on the publications and citations of the schools’ faculty and alumni who are teaching in and working in areas related to their degrees. To do this, we take publicly available databases, such as Semantic Scholar, Crossref, and Wikipedia and use these to measure the influence of academics in their disciplines. Having measured the influence of persons, we then identify the schools that they’re affiliated with, adding up the influence scores of the faculty and alumni to measure the influence of the schools and their disciplinary programs. Finally, we control these influence scores by size of undergraduate student body so that schools do not score high in influence simply because of a size advantage. We lay out these methodological considerations on our methodology page.
- Academic Stewardship: Having measured a school’s stewardship of financial and human resources in the two previous points, we now divide the second measure by the first to define the Academic Stewardship metric. This metric spotlights smaller schools, with fewer financial resources and people, that invest wisely and do proportionately better in building influence than large wealthy schools. Many of these smaller, less wealthy schools are incentivized to make better use of their resources but would never get recognized in conventional school rankings, which directly or indirectly put a premium on the wealth of schools.
Academic Stewardship as so defined is connected to keeping tuition and other costs down, but it should not be confused with affordability or frugality. The schools that this metric ranks as exemplary academic stewards tend to be all over the map when it comes to tuition and other costs. At issue is the influence of schools given the financial and human resources they have on hand. If a school is going to charge more for tuition, then that needs to be reflected in the school having proportionately greater influence.
Why Academic Stewardship Matters to Students and Their Families
The benefits of attending a school with strong academic stewardship include:
- A clear reason for why students are at the school in the first place. Without the distraction of amenities and luxuries, these schools are at once unpretentious but also passionately committed to their educational mission. The schools in this ranking are financially efficient and academically rigorous. By avoiding frills, these schools take the most direct path to accomplishing their mission of educating students.
- Valuing character over prestige and self-indulgence. A school that’s a good steward of its resources doesn’t instill shame in its students over what they are missing (such as elite cuisine) but rather pride in what they have and making the most of it. These schools exhibit a culture of good stewardship, which tends to build good character in the students that attend these schools.
- Avoiding the spoiled-student syndrome. It’s easy to think that offering students endless options and opportunities will enrich their time at school in every way. But spoiling people—whether in business, sports, or academics—has the opposite effect, causing people to take their advantages for granted and in the end achieving less than they might otherwise, a point well-documented in Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code. Schools exhibiting academic stewardship avoid this pitfall.
- The best schools vs. the schools that help students to be their best. Students at schools demonstrating outstanding academic stewardship aren’t so much concerned about being at the “best” school, whatever that may mean, as about being at a school that helps them to be their best. These schools pay attention to their students, hoping that any glory goes to them rather than to the school. Small schools, and especially liberal arts colleges, help themselves by communicating this advantage to prospective students.
- Emphasizing development over talent and achievement. Schools like Harvard and Stanford have their pick of academic talent, and their students have a long record of achievement even before they apply to such elite schools. But if a school doesn’t have the resources of a Harvard or Stanford, how does it build a great team of students? In that case, it must focus on student development. Colleges exemplifying academic stewardship emphasize student growth and development, ensuring that the schools are doing everything in their power to help students reach their full potential and thereby become their best selves.
Maryland’s Best Colleges and Universities by Academic Stewardship
- #3 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #3 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024 #4 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #5 The Most Influential Universities and Colleges Ranked by State 2024
Other Rankings
Tuition + fees
$49K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
58%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/29
Career Outlook for degree at Goucher College
Cost of Degree: $49,220Expenses: $20,780Starting Salary: $55,100Cost Recoup Time: 18 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Goucher College known for?
Goucher College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Mathematics
- Computer Science
- Political Science
- Physics
- Biology
- Literature
- History
- Chemistry
- Education
- Medical
Most Influential Alumni
- #4 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #4 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024 #5 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #10 Best Colleges in Maryland 2024
Tuition + fees
$52K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
71%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1290/27
Career Outlook for degree at Washington College
Cost of Degree: $51,991Expenses: $17,894Starting Salary: $56,500Cost Recoup Time: 18 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Washington College known for?
Washington College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Physics
- Literature
- History
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Political Science
- Economics
- Psychology
- Biology
- Mathematics
Most Influential Alumni
- #7 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024 #10 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #15 Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Work Degrees
Tuition + fees
$45K
Acceptance
78%
Graduation
61%
Student body
2K
Career Outlook for degree at Hood College
Cost of Degree: $44,500Expenses: $18,370Starting Salary: $49,400Cost Recoup Time: 18 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Hood College known for?
Hood College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Social Work
- Sociology
- Nursing
- Mathematics
- Education
- Biology
- Economics
- Psychology
- Literature
- Political Science
Most Influential Alumni
- #5 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #8 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #9 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #9 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
71%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/29
Career Outlook for degree at St. Mary's College of Maryland
Cost of Degree: $15,184Expenses: $16,611Starting Salary: $55,200Cost Recoup Time: 11 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is St. Mary's College of Maryland known for?
St. Mary's College of Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Political Science
- Economics
- Education
- Mathematics
- Anthropology
- Literature
- Sociology
- Biology
- History
- Chemistry
Most Influential Alumni
- #20 50 Best Public Colleges and Universities Ranked for Students in 2024 #2 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #3 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #3 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
- #3 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #4 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
- #5 Best Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #6 Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Criminal Justice Degrees
- #1 Best Online Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #2 Best Online Master's Programs in Maryland 2024
- #3 Best Online MBA Programs in Maryland
- #9 Best Online Bachelor's in Accounting
- #10 Best Online Bachelor's in Criminal Justice
- #21 Best Online Bachelor’s in Business Administration Degree Programs
- #21 Best Online Master's Degrees in Accounting
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
33%
Student body
4K
Career Outlook for degree at University of Baltimore
Cost of Degree: $9,506Starting Salary: $63,400What is University of Baltimore known for?
University of Baltimore’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Criminal Justice
- Law
- Social Work
- Computer Science
- Political Science
- Business
- Psychology
- History
- Philosophy
- Literature
Most Influential Alumni
University of Baltimore’s Online Degrees
BS in Business Administration
Degree Concentrations
- General Business
- Accounting
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
BS in Criminal Justice
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
BA in Policy, Politics And International Affairs
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
45%
Graduation
24%
Student body
2K
Career Outlook for degree at Coppin State University
Cost of Degree: $6,904Expenses: $15,932Starting Salary: $41,800Cost Recoup Time: 11 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Coppin State University known for?
Coppin State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Social Work
- Criminal Justice
- Computer Science
- Nursing
- Education
- Psychology
- Mathematics
- History
- Literature
- Political Science
Most Influential Alumni
Coppin State University’s Online Degrees
BS in Business Management
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
- #5 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024 #6 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #9 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #8 Best Online MBA Programs in Maryland
Other Rankings
Tuition + fees
$47K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
66%
Student body
4K
Career Outlook for degree at McDaniel College
Cost of Degree: $46,800Expenses: $15,884Starting Salary: $54,000Cost Recoup Time: 18 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is McDaniel College known for?
McDaniel College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Religious Studies
- Economics
- Computer Science
- Education
- Physics
- Literature
- Communications
- History
- Biology
- Political Science
Most Influential Alumni
- #3 Best Christian Colleges in Maryland 2024 #9 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024 #10 Best Online MBA Programs in Maryland
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
65%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1145/22
Career Outlook for degree at Mount St. Mary's University
Cost of Degree: $45,870Expenses: $17,070Starting Salary: $56,600Cost Recoup Time: 17 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Mount St. Mary's University known for?
Mount St. Mary's University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Philosophy
- Communications
- Mathematics
- History
- Literature
- Education
- Economics
- Political Science
- Biology
- Business
Most Influential Alumni
- #7 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #10 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024 #10 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #10 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
49%
Student body
5K
Career Outlook for degree at Frostburg State University
Cost of Degree: $9,804Expenses: $16,696Starting Salary: $47,200Cost Recoup Time: 11 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Frostburg State University known for?
Frostburg State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Chemistry
- Social Work
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Computer Science
- Literature
- Education
- Criminal Justice
- Economics
- Mathematics
Most Influential Alumni
Frostburg State University’s Online Degrees
BS in Nursing
- Required Credits: None Reported
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
- #4 HBCU Doctoral Programs Online #9 Best HBCU Online Master's Programs #18 Most Influential HBCUs in the US Ranked for 2024 #4 Best Research Universities in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
- #5 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #5 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #6 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
- #7 Best Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #2 HBCU MBA Programs Online
- #2 Best Online Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #4 Best Online MBA Programs in Maryland
- #6 Best Online Master's Programs in Maryland 2024
- #11 Best HBCU Online Programs
- #11 Best Online Master's in Project Management
- #23 Best Online Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Humanities Degree Programs for 2024
Tuition + fees
$8K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
46%
Student body
9K
Median SAT/ACT
970/18
Career Outlook for degree at Morgan State University
Cost of Degree: $8,008Expenses: $17,727Starting Salary: $42,600Cost Recoup Time: 12 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Morgan State University known for?
Morgan State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Most Influential Alumni
Morgan State University’s Online Degrees
BS in Cloud Computing
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
BS in Applied Liberal Studies
- Required Credits: 120
- Completion Time: None Reported
- Format: Online
- #7 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #8 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #8 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024 #9 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
87%
Graduation
40%
Student body
7K
Career Outlook for degree at Bowie State University
Cost of Degree: $8,753Expenses: $16,568Starting Salary: $48,700Cost Recoup Time: 11 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Bowie State University known for?
Bowie State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Computer Science
- Psychology
- Nursing
- Mathematics
- Education
- Communications
- History
- Business
- Literature
- Criminal Justice
Most Influential Alumni
- #14 50 Best Christian Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities 2024 #1 Best Small Colleges in Maryland 2024 #1 Best Christian Colleges in Maryland 2024 #2 Best Private Colleges in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
- #2 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #3 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
- #4 The Most Influential Universities and Colleges Ranked by State 2024
- #4 Best Colleges in Maryland 2024
- #11 Best Liberal Arts Colleges for Criminal Justice Degrees
- #3 Best Online Master's Programs in Maryland 2024
- #9 Best Online MBA Programs in Maryland
Tuition + fees
$53K
Acceptance
83%
Graduation
79%
Student body
6K
Median SAT/ACT
1270/29
Career Outlook for degree at Loyola University Maryland
Cost of Degree: $53,430Expenses: $19,170Starting Salary: $78,300Cost Recoup Time: 15 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Loyola University Maryland known for?
Loyola University Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Literature
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Religious Studies
- Philosophy
- Economics
- Social Work
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Engineering
Most Influential Alumni
- #6 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in Maryland 2024 #7 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #7 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024 #8 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
Tuition + fees
$10K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
69%
Student body
8K
Median SAT/ACT
1250/24
Career Outlook for degree at Salisbury University
Cost of Degree: $10,396Expenses: $16,990Starting Salary: $54,200Cost Recoup Time: 10 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is Salisbury University known for?
Salisbury University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
- Computer Science
- Criminal Justice
- Social Work
- Sociology
- Business
- Chemistry
- Earth Sciences
- Nursing
- Education
- Political Science
Most Influential Alumni
- #5 Best Research Universities in Maryland 2024 #6 Best Public Colleges in Maryland 2024 #6 Most Affordable Colleges in Maryland 2024 #7 Best Grad Schools in Maryland 2024
Other Rankings
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
81%
Graduation
70%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1300/26
Career Outlook for degree at University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Cost of Degree: $12,606Expenses: $18,189Starting Salary: $59,600Cost Recoup Time: 10 yearsPaid back at 15% of annual salaryWhat is University of Maryland, Baltimore County known for?
University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Most Influential Alumni
Maryland’s Best Colleges in Your Area of Interest
Colleges and Universities in Maryland
The Old Line State has 46 colleges and universities, 30 of which are public and 16 of which are private. The United States Naval Academy offers programs in physical sciences, aeronautical engineering, and naval architecture. The largest private institution, Johns Hopkins University, has just over 24,000 students and a tuition rate of $54,000. Located in Baltimore, this research university is known for its science and medical discoveries.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
The University of Maryland in College Park boasts over 35,000 students with a price tag of $11,000. The school has 15 campuses, and students can choose from areas of study like criminal justice, communications, physics, and sociology. The most affordable school in the state, Baltimore City Community College comes in at $3,000 and has 37 associate degree programs to choose from. Maryland also provides loan forgiveness programs for its residents, including those for dentists and public servants. Students can also check out the Maryland SmartBuy Home Buyer Assistance and Forgiveness Program, where eligible applicants can receive up to 15% of the home purchase price toward outstanding student loan, to be paid off as part of closing.
Maryland is a state bursting with history, from its numerous museums to its historic battlegrounds. Students who attend school in Maryland can explore the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Park and walk the same streets as many influential Marylanders, including Francis Scott Key, Babe Ruth, Billie Holiday, and Thurgood Marshall.
Whether you’re looking to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, Maryland offers its students history, legacy, and numerous degree paths.
What are Maryland’s Colleges & Universities?
- 6 Research Universities
- 18 Liberal Arts Colleges & Universities
- 13 Graduate Schools
- 13 Public Colleges & Universities
- 11 Private Colleges & Universities
- 4 Christian Colleges & Universities
- 15 Small Colleges & Universities (fewer than 5,000 students)
- 13 Affordable Colleges (below $20,000/year)
- 16 Community Colleges
- 7 Online Colleges