6 Maryland Schools Among Best Value Colleges: Princeton Review

BALTIMORE, MD — When it comes to college, many potential students choose a school where they can get the most for their money. Princeton Review this month released its 2020 list of best value colleges, which includes six institutions in Maryland.

A total of 200 colleges — 137 private and 63 public — made the list. The schools reflect 7 percent of colleges across the country and offer the best return on investment for students, according to the research.

Of the 200 schools included on the list, 75 received a nod for having the highest return on investment, including one in Maryland: Johns Hopkins University ranked No. 37 on the list of 75.

The following Maryland schools made the top 200. Schools were not ranked hierarchically.

• Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
• McDaniel College, Westminster
• St. John's College, Annapolis
• St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City
• United States Naval Academy, Annapolis
• Washington College, Chestertown

Princeton Review chose schools based on a 2018-19 survey of administrators at 656 colleges. Survey topics covered academics, cost, financial aid, career services, graduation rates, student debt, and alumni support.

The Princeton Review also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the colleges as well as PayScale.com surveys of school alumni about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction.

Among the 200 colleges included on this year's list:

• The average grant to students with need is $29,748.
• The median starting salary of graduates is $60,824.
• The mid-career salary of graduates is $117,583.

The first edition of The Princeton Review's "Best Value Colleges" book, published in 2004, was inspired by findings of the company's 2003 College Hopes & Worries Survey, a poll of college applicants and their parents about their application perspectives and concerns.

In the 17 years that The Princeton Review has conducted the survey, concerns about college costs have continued to rise each year. Among the findings from the 2019 survey: 88 percent of the 11,900 respondents said financial aid would be "very" or "extremely" necessary to pay for college — a substantial increase from the 78 percent of respondents who indicated such levels of need in 2007.

— By Megan VerHelst and Elizabeth Janney