National Rankings Continue to Recognize Excellence of USM Institutions
Multiple Publications Affirm High Performance of USM Universities
Baltimore, Md. (Sept. 23, 2021) – University System of Maryland (USM) institutions continue to rank among the country’s best options for students and families. In the past several weeks, several major national rankings have affirmed the system’s sustained excellence, affordability, and overall value—despite the upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic.
This month’s release of annual rankings from publications such as the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report and Washington Monthly represent the latest in an impressive stretch of national and international recognitions for USM campuses.
“Sustaining excellence takes dedication and consistent effort,” said USM Chancellor Jay Perman. “Sustaining excellence while committing to historic diversity—committing to serving students from all backgrounds and all life experiences—takes even more. It takes innovation, flexibility, and, above all, a belief in students’ talent and the skill to develop it. I’m proud our USM institutions have won praise from these prestigious publications. But I’m prouder still that this praise is beside the point.
The USM’s excellence shines bright—even through a pandemic that’s upended our world. I congratulate all of our institutions.”
The prestigious Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education annual ranking recognizes several USM institutions in its “WSJ/THE 2022 College Rankings List,” released on Sept. 21. Those four institutions are the University of Maryland, College Park (ranked No. 39 in its “Outcomes” category for results such as graduation rate and debt after graduation); University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Towson University; and Salisbury University. The WSJ/THE editors offer an overview of the rankings here, with links to its methodology.
The U.S. News & World Report 2022 edition of “Best Colleges” recognizes several USM institutions for excellence in several classifications.
U.S. News & World Report ranks the USM flagship institution, the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), No. 20 among public universities and colleges in the U.S.— and No. 59 among all national universities, public and private—in the 2022 Best Colleges edition. The A. James Clark School of Engineering came in at No. 21 in the Best Engineering Schools ranking, rising one place since last year, and No. 12 among public universities, with four specialties in the top 25. In computer science, UMCP ranked No. 18 nationally and No. 9 among publics, with five specialties in the top 25.
College Park’s Robert H. Smith School of Business ranked No. 13 among public business schools and No. 23 nationally. It has five specialties in the Top 25. UMCP also earned recognition for its robust living-learning communities, tying for No. 13 in the U.S. It ranked No. 29 among best colleges for veterans. Earlier this year, U.S. News and World Report recognized UMCP for its excellence in the 2022 Best Graduate Schools rankings. Seven graduate programs placed in the top five. Two programs repeated their No. 1 ranking from the year before: Criminology and Counseling/Personnel Services.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) maintained its place as one of the leading performers in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. U.S. News ranks UMBC No. 6 among all U.S. universities for undergraduate teaching—this recognition honors the unwavering commitment of the institution’s faculty and staff in helping students navigate a largely virtual and hybrid curriculum during the COVID pandemic. UMBC is the only Maryland public university to appear on the list.
Additionally, UMBC advanced to No. 6 on the Most Innovative Universities list, just ahead of Stanford University. Joining UMBC in the top 10 are institutions like MIT and Carnegie Mellon. UMBC is the only Maryland university on the list this year. In addition to these rankings and recognition as a top national university, UMBC is a top-100 Best Public University and Best Value University. And U.S. News spotlights UMBC on its lists of top universities for ethnic diversity and for veterans.
U.S. News ranked Towson University (TU) No. 99 among national public universities, and in the top 100 for social mobility, value and veterans support. TU also jumped in the social mobility category and received recognition as a top college for veterans and for its undergraduate nursing, computer science, and business administration programs.
Among national public universities, TU climbed to No. 70 in social mobility, which looks at the number of Pell Grant recipients and compares their graduation rates to those of non-Pell Grant recipients at the university. TU’s minority and Pell-eligible student populations far exceed the national average for academic success. This is the third year TU has been classified as a national institution. Last month, Washington Monthly ranked TU 58th among 391 national universities in the 2021 College Guide and Rankings and in the top 35 among public universities.
All three of the USM’s historically black institutions are recognized among the Top 50 of the U.S. News & World Report 2022 “America’s Best Colleges” list for Historically Black Colleges: University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is ranked No. 17; Bowie State University is No. 24; and Coppin State University improved seven spots to No. 36. The No. 17 ranking for UMES marks the second straight year the university’s ranking improved one position.
Each year, U.S. News & World Report continues to recognize Bowie State among the best regional universities that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and doctoral programs. Bowie State ranks No. 76 among the Top Performers on Social Mobility list for success in serving students with financial need. The social mobility honor highlights Bowie State’s success in serving large numbers of students with federally funded Pell Grants, typically awarded to those with family incomes under $50,000. BSU programs in nursing and computer sciences also were recognized this year.
Washington Monthly’s rankings list of “Master’s Level Colleges and Universities” includes 616 institutions that award a significant number of master’s degrees but few or no doctoral degrees—and in this classification, ranked Frostburg State University (FSU) first among public universities in Maryland, ninth in the category of service and 44th in the country overall. FSU was also ranked 91st in the Northeast in the “Best Bang for the Buck” category. In U.S. News & World Report's ranking of Regional Universities North, among similar universities in the northeast U.S., FSU ranked 53rd of 175 schools in the category of social mobility–those schools in which Pell Grant recipients had the best chance of graduating–and 36th among the 61 public institutions in the Regional North category.
U.S. News again honored Salisbury University (SU). SU ranked 62nd in the top tier among 175 publics and privates in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Regional Universities” category, 33rd among the north’s “Best Value Schools” and 14th among the region’s “Top Public Schools.” SU also once again made the publication’s list of “Best Colleges for Veterans” and was ranked one of the “Top Performers on Social Mobility.” Earlier this semester, The Princeton Review named SU to its list of the “The Best 387 Colleges” and Washington Monthly recognized SU as a “Best Bang for the Buck” college.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Baltimore (UBalt) No. 111 nationally in its latest rankings for Top Performers on Social Mobility. Washington Monthly has repeatedly recognized UBalt in recent years. The publication’s rankings cited the university in its group of Best Colleges for Student Voting in 2020. The list, ordered by total voter registration, showed UBalt in 11th place nationally. Of all the public and private U.S. institutions included in the ranking, UBalt had the 11th highest voter registration. In 2019, the publication named UBalt the No. 1 public master’s university in Maryland, and No. 33 among the top 200 master’s universities nationally.
The nursing program at University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) ranked No. 183 in the latest U.S. News rankings, out of 694 programs in the U.S. UMGC rankings from the recent U.S. News list can be seen here. In its recent 2022 rankings, College Factual ranked UMGC No. 215 out of 2,576 colleges and universities in the U.S. on its 2022 Best Colleges List.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)—Maryland’s only public health, law, and human services university—comprises six professional schools and an interdisciplinary graduate school. The university confers most health care, human services, and law professional degrees in Maryland each year. U.S. News & World Report ranked the UMB School of Nursing Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) program No. 10 in the nation. Among public schools of nursing, the school ranked No. 4 in the nation. As noted by the university’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Planning, and Assessment, these professional schools are routinely ranked among the nation’s best, with several “Top 10” rankings as well. The Center for World University Rankings profiles UMB here.
The USM comprises 12 institutions: Bowie State University; Coppin State University; Frostburg State University; Salisbury University; Towson University; the University of Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; the University of Maryland, College Park; the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and the University of Maryland Global Campus. The USM also includes three regional centers—the Universities at Shady Grove, the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, and the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland—at which USM universities offer upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses.
Systemwide, student enrollment exceeds 172,000. The USM and its institutions compete successfully nearly $1.5 billion in external grants and contracts annually. USM institutions and programs are among the nation's best in quality and value according to several national rankings. To learn more about the University System of Maryland, visit www.usmd.edu.
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu