University of Maryland

College Park

According to the school, The University of Maryland, the State’s flagship campus, is a comprehensive research university with a record of excellence in academics, arts, and athletics. We pride ourselves on the talent of our faculty, which includes three Nobel Prize winners and six Pulitzer Prize winners. Our stellar undergraduates have the choice of 127 different majors and 13 top-ranked living-learning programs. The programs span topics such as entrepreneurship, global climate change, international studies, media and the arts. Students also have opportunities to work with faculty on research in state-of-the-art facilities or intern in outstanding federal labs, think tanks, and government agencies. Our Federal Semester program allows students to study health, homeland security, Middle East or environmental policy creation and then intern in federal offices that create policy. \r\n\r\nHonors programs challenge the most talented students in small seminars with like-minded classmates. All of our classes are complemented by the rich cultural offerings in Washington, DC and Baltimore. The resources of several national institutions are nearby: The Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and the National Institutes of Health. Located on a beautiful 1,250-acre campus 9 miles from the White House, the University boasts new research, arts, and sports complexes, and state-of-the art recreational facilities. With dozens of innovative environmental features, the campus has a thriving sustainability program, including its designation as the nation’s ‘Greenest’ campus for 2009 and as an arboretum and botanical garden with over 8,000 trees. Several of UM’s research centers focus on climate change, making the University a hub for activity around environmental research and activism.. UM is top ranked as a public university for exceptional academics and affordability. Its financial aid programs work to maintain this affordability: One provides a zero-debt-at-graduation opportunity for students from poverty-level circumstances while another caps the accumulated debt at graduation for seniors from moderate income families. \r\n