15 Maryland Schools Ranked ‘Best Colleges For Your Money’

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Buying a house and sending kids to college are two of the biggest spending decisions most Americans will ever make. Fortunately for Maryland families, 15 universities in the state is among the best college values in America, according to a new “Best Colleges for Your Money” ranking from Money magazine.

The University of Maryland-College Park is ranked No. 20 for best value in the country, according to the analysis of more than 700 of the nation’s best-performing colleges. A total of 711 schools nationwide made the list, including 15 from Maryland.

Money said the ranking is “new, uniquely practical analysis” that draws on research and advice from some of the nation’s leading experts on education quality, financing and value. (SIGN UP: Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts, or like us on Facebook. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Other Maryland schools on the magazine's list are:

• No. 131, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
• No. 150, Towson University, Towson
• No. 206, McDaniel College, Westminster
• No. 250, Salisbury University, Salisbury
• No. 261 Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore
• No. 265, St Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City
• No. 279, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore
• No. 462, Bowie State University, Bowie
• No. 506, Frostburg State University, Frostburg
• No. 535, Washington College, Chestertown
• No. 550, Hood College, Frederick
• No. 609, Goucher College, Baltimore
• No. 664, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore
• No. 682, Mount St Mary's University, Emmitsburg

Here’s why University of Maryland-College Park rose to the top 20 in the Money 2017 Best Colleges For Your Money ranking for 2017-2018:

• Estimated net cost without financial aid: $26,500
• Estimated net cost with average state grant: $15,900
• Percent receiving need-based assistance: 34
• Percent receiving merit-based assistance: 3
• Average early-career earnings for graduates: $55,700

Here’s how the magazine describes UMD:

The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university, and with some all-star faculty power, it's also one of the nation's top public research universities. The faculty roster boasts three Nobel laureates, two Pulitzer Prize winners and, thanks to the campus's proximity to the District of Columbia, leaders in major positions at federal agencies such as NASA and the National Institutes of Health. … Notable alumni include the Muppets creator Jim Henson, writer-actor Larry David, onetime presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. One thing to keep in mind: Students often complain that College Park doesn't feel like a college town so much as a campus off the highway. College and city officials have vowed to improve that by collaborating on development projects that focus on building a downtown community and creating a research hub to bring together academic researchers and private businesses.

The top 10 education values were at:

1. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
2. CUNY Bernard M Baruch College, New York City
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
4. University of California-Berkeley
5. University of California-Los Angeles
6. Stanford University, Stanford, California
7. University of California-Irvine
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
9. University of California-Davis
10. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Read the full list, see where other Maryland schools landed.
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