2025 College Rankings

The University of Maryland–College Park benefits from its proximity to Washington, D.C., while maintaining a degree of independence from the city’s daily life. Still, the school falls short of its potential, particularly when it comes to the value it offers students for the cost.

Like many state universities, Maryland harbors a cadre of activists within its administration. While they have not fully captured the institution, they have succeeded in committing it to a range of ideological initiatives that distract from its core educational mission. These include land acknowledgments, preferred pronoun policies, and an environmental protection pledge—all signaling a willingness to politicize the university. Unlike some of its peer institutions, Maryland has not adopted a policy of institutional neutrality.

Maryland’s approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is similar. The university maintains a DEI bureaucracy, though it is relatively small—about 1.5 employees per 1,000 undergraduates—and no faculty positions require diversity statements. Nevertheless, when the federal government announced a crackdown on DEI earlier this year, Maryland’s administrators reaffirmed their commitment to the initiative, signaling that they won’t abandon it without resistance.

Still, some of Maryland’s policies show respect for free speech. The university has endorsed the Chicago Principles, which promote the protection of free expression on campus. Most students say that they believe that the school upholds those values, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives Maryland a “green” speech code rating, indicating that its policies do not restrict speech.

The student body is fairly ideologically diverse and, for the most part, tolerant of opposing views. For every conservative student, there are fewer than three liberals. Students tell FIRE that they are slightly more open to hearing from controversial left-wing speakers than right-wing ones. Disruptions and attempts to de-platform speakers are relatively rare. That said, a persistent anxiety remains: nearly half of students report censoring themselves at least once a month.

The curriculum at Maryland is weak. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school a C in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. While the university mandates DEI-focused courses for graduation, it neglects more academically substantive subjects like history and government.

Maryland could serve its graduates more effectively. On average, it takes 1.9 years to repay the cost of education, slightly better than our overall average of 2.3 years. But graduates tend to experience a slow start to their careers. Median annual earnings ten years after enrollment underperform expectations by over $3,000, based on data from SAT scores and Pell Grant data. The school underperforms in graduate education output, producing just 23 Ph.D.s per 1,000 undergraduates, well below the expected 48.