St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) was ranked #9 in the country for “Green Matters: Everybody Cares About Conservation” and #13 for “Friendliest Students” in The Princeton Review’s “The Best 391 Colleges,” published last week.
SMCM was identified as one of the nation’s academically best institutions by the education services company, landing in the top 15% of some 2,400 institutions in the U.S. The company chose the colleges for the book based its surveys of 2,000 college administrators about their institutions’ academic offerings. The company also surveyed students attending the colleges in the book who rated their own schools on dozens of topics and reported on their campus experiences at them.
The Princeton Review does not rank schools in “The Best 391 Colleges” hierarchically from 1 to 391, though it compiles a number of ranked lists of the top 25 schools of those in the book in various categories. It was in these lists that SMCM appeared. SMCM’s #9 ranking on the “Green Matters: Everyone Cares About Conservation” (up from a #14 ranking last year) was based on student responses on how they rate administration and student support for environmental awareness and conservation efforts. The College’s #13 ranking for “Friendliest Students” was based on how strongly students agree that their fellow students are extremely friendly.
“As a student involved in the many extracurricular activities that St. Mary’s College of Maryland has to offer, I’ve seen how welcoming and supportive students are—from my time in the rowing team to Intervarsity and badminton club,” said Yaffet Seboka ‘27. One of the College’s guiding principles is “The St. Mary’s Way,” which fosters an ethos of caring, service and mutual respect. This spirit permeates the entire campus. “Being a computer science major I’ve also been fortunate enough to have amazing professors and peers that really helped me excel in my education,” Seboka continued. “The close-knit community, beautiful campus and wonderful professors we have is the reason I believe at St. Mary’s College of Maryland we have some of the happiest students.”
“Throughout my time at St. Mary’s College, I have experienced first-hand the College’s efforts to make a sustainable change. As an environmental studies major, I have taken multiple classes that encourage action individually and collectively,” said Abby Leslie ’26. “Discussing with like-minded peers encourages me to take sustainable practices with me into post-grad.”
“Even outside of the classroom, green initiatives are impossible to avoid. This can be seen with the arboretum scattered around campus, a stand at our coffee shop sporting jam and other products from Kate Farm, a program to compost waste from the dining hall, or even the toilets found around campus designed to save thousands of gallons of water,” added Leslie. “Being at a campus that makes sustainability a core value brings me not only comfort, but hope.”
Earlier this year, the College saw its rankings increase in multiple areas according to the 2025 "Best Value Colleges" list published by The Princeton Review. In this online list of 209 schools, SMCM was rated #2 on the list of "Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact" among public colleges. This list - on which SMCM rose two places from its 2024 ranking - is based on student survey results in the area of community service opportunities, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus student engagement. SMCM was also ranked #45 on The Princeton Review’s “Top 50 Best Value Colleges” among public schools.
