St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the National Public Honors College, has risen to the rank of fifth best public liberal arts college in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s “2020 Best Colleges” released Monday, Sept. 9. St. Mary’s College also ranks 92 on the national liberal arts colleges list, public and private (compared to 95 last year), 103 in best value schools, and 179 in top performers on social mobility, a ranking based on the college enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.
“As the first and one of only two public liberal arts honors colleges in the country, St. Mary’s College of Maryland sets the standard for a liberal arts education,” said Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan, president of St. Mary’s College. “Our rigorous academic and career preparation programs featured in our new LEAD curriculum, engaging College community, and approachable and accomplished faculty are among the reasons academically motivated students make St. Mary’s College their college of choice.”
National liberal arts colleges ranked by U.S. News & World Report emphasize undergraduate education. To be included in this category, colleges must award at least 50 percent of their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.
St. Mary’s College has recently received several accolades: listed among the top 250 in Forbes’ Top Colleges, The Princeton Review’s “Best 385 Colleges” Guide for 2020, 2019 Best College Value by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 2019-20 College of Distinction, a 2018 Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, and as an Individual Conference Champion in the 2018-19 College and University Green Power Challenge by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.