Celebrating Maryland’s highest-ever U.S. News ranking

Dear Terp community,

Here at Maryland, we know that we pursue excellence in all that we do. It’s only fitting that awareness of our progress would expand beyond the borders of our campus, as once again, we’ve been recognized as a top 20 public university in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. This year, we are especially proud to say that we have achieved our highest overall ranking at No. 44—rising 20 spots since 2020—and our highest ranking in over a decade among public universities at No. 17. UMD is also ranked in the top 10 nationally for its learning communities, and in the top 25 among public universities for veterans, undergraduate teaching and innovation.

Our schools, colleges and programs also achieved great success. Our school of engineering earned its highest ranking ever at No. 16, and boasts six programs in the top 25. Ranked at No. 23 overall, our business school has three top 25 programs. Our computer science program remains in the top 20 across the nation, and our artificial intelligence program is ranked No. 12. Economics and psychology both ranked in the top 20 among public universities. The university now has 71 undergraduate and graduate top 25 rankings, noting that not all programs are ranked during this cycle.

While rankings are but one measure of success, their deeper meaning is a reflection of our work as a university community to serve the public good, including the investments we have made in our people. We have made new and expanded investments in impact-driven research, community and civic engagement, and the mental health and well-being of all Terps. We have expanded faculty resources, including increasing faculty salaries, growing the percentage of full-time faculty, and reducing our student-to-faculty ratio. We thank Governor Moore, Senate President Ferguson and Speaker Jones for investments made by the state.

Our increase in rankings was also driven by a number of student success factors—including retention rates, graduation rates and graduates’ earnings—demonstrating our strong ability to educate and graduate students who are well prepared to succeed in their post-graduation pursuits and in today’s workforce.

Read more about all of our U.S. News’ Best Colleges rankings in Maryland Today.

Excelling across the board

We should all be proud to be part of a university that is recognized across the board for our academic excellence, research enterprise, workplace environment, student experience and commitment to inclusivity. Beyond these latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report, we are proud of these additional accolades, to name but a few:

• No. 5 overall and No. 4 among public universities for undergraduate entrepreneurship by The Princeton Review/Entrepreneurship magazine

• No. 9 among U.S. public institutions for patents awarded in 2023, along with other USM institutions according to the National Academy of Inventors

• No. 11 among public institutions for research and development spending and No. 19 overall in the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development Survey

• No. 12 among public universities in Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges, and named to its list of America’s “New Public Ivies”

• No. 13 among U.S. public institutions ranked as Best Global Schools by U.S. News & World Report

• No. 16 among public four-year institutions for "Colleges with the Best 6-Year Graduation Rates for Pell Students” in The Chronicle of Higher Education's Almanac

• 20 Fulbright students and scholars in 2023-24, making UMD a "Top Producer" of Fulbrights by The Chronicle of Higher Education

• Named one of America's Greatest Workplaces for LGBTQ+ and America’s Best Workplaces for Diversity by Newsweek.

• Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers by State and Best Large Employers in the U.S.

These rankings are a reflection of what we can achieve when Terps join together to move Fearlessly Forward.

Sincerely,