Five Maryland institutions were ranked among the nation’s best this year in Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges list.
University of Maryland, College Park, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Salisbury University, Towson University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County were included in the 2012 list, which ranks the top 100 public colleges and universities thought to give students the most for their money. The rankings are based on total cost, four-year graduation rates, average debt at graduation, and other factors.
Gov. Martin O’Malley issued a statement following Kiplinger’s ranking.
“Thanks to our hardworking students, faculty and administrative staff, Maryland colleges and universities have become a national model for quality, affordable education. In Maryland, we believe in the talents, skills, innovation, education and creativity of our people as our greatest asset to help us create jobs, expand opportunity and move forward in this changing new economy. That’s why we’ve chosen to give our students the tools they need to build a better future by making higher education more affordable for more families, including a four-year tuition freeze for our public universities,” he said.
In this year’s list, the University of Maryland, College Park, ranked eighth in the country for in-state costs, and tenth in the country for out-of-state. St. Mary’s came in at number 42, Salisbury at number 71, Towson at 76, and UMBC was number 84 (all for in-state).
“Together, we can continue to make progress for our students, strengthening our ability to provide our people with the skills they need to compete,” O’Malley said.
