2021 Best Colleges in Maryland by Salary Score™
These are the best schools in Maryland, ranked using our Salary Score. This score shows how each college stacks up against colleges across the country in terms of alumni salaries by major. To determine a school's Salary Score, we compared median alumni earnings from the first year after graduation for each program to data from the same programs at other universities. We then compiled an overall Salary Score for bachelor's degrees at the university, which indicates whether or not alumni tend to be higher-paid compared to others with the same field of study. More than half of eligible Maryland universities had higher a Salary Score than the median for U.S. colleges and universities. The University of Maryland College Park ranked 1st for Salary Score out of all Maryland-based schools.
To be considered for our state rankings, schools must offer and provide data for at least 8 bachelor's programs. This list includes all eligible schools in Maryland. You can click on a school's name to view individual program scores. Read our methodology to learn more about how schools were ranked.
| Rank | School | Annual Tuition | Salary Score™ |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maryland - College Park | $11,233 | 86.24 | |
| Loyola University Maryland | $53,430 | 77.82 | |
| Mount St. Mary's University - MD | $45,870 | 77.61 | |
| Bowie State University | $8,748 | 77.49 | |
| Johns Hopkins University | $60,480 | 71.87 | |
| Towson University | $10,818 | 70.92 | |
| Coppin State University | $6,904 | 60.87 | |
| Salisbury University | $10,396 | 60.57 | |
| McDaniel College | $46,800 | 59.99 | |
| Stevenson University | $38,738 | 59.44 | |
| University of Maryland, Baltimore County | $12,606 | 57.18 | |
| St Mary's College of Maryland | $15,184 | 56.67 | |
| Hood College | $44,500 | 51.16 | |
| Washington College | $52,481 | 51.04 | |
| University of Baltimore | $9,506 | 48.64 | |
| Frostburg State University | $9,804 | 44.24 | |
| Morgan State University | $8,008 | 35.31 | |
| Goucher College | $49,220 | 34.53 | |
| University of Maryland Eastern Shore | $8,898 | 31.38 |
2021 Best Colleges in Maryland Highlights
Over half of the bachelor's programs at the University of Maryland - College Park (UMD) have a Salary Score of 80 or above. Programs in the field of sociology and cultural studies have notably higher scores than similar programs at other universities. Sociology scores a 90, while ethnic, cultural minority, gender, and group studies scores a 99, and East Asian languages, literatures, and linguistics scores an 81. Alumni of the ethnic, cultural minority, gender, and group studies program report a median annual salary of $41,570. The bachelor's program that has the highest median salary is computer engineering, at $87,180.
School Overview
The University of Maryland - College Park is a large, public university located in College Park, a mid-sized city just a few miles from the District of Columbia. UMD offers a unique research experience called the First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE), where first-year students can choose a research area in the category of natural sciences, social sciences, or technology and applied sciences. Students will then be about to create and execute their own research projects with the help of faculty mentors.
Explore programs at University of Maryland - College Park >>
The bachelor's field at Loyola University Maryland with the highest Salary Score is accounting and related services, with a score of 98. Other high-ranking programs include communication and media studies (91), teacher education and professional development, specific levels and methods (90), and business administration, management, and operations (86). The bachelor's program with the highest median annual salary is computer science, at $69,340.
School Overview
Loyola University Maryland is a medium-sized, private, Jesuit, non-profit institution located in Baltimore. Over sixty percent of students take part in one of Loyola's study abroad programs, and students can choose from more than twenty countries. Financial aid is awarded to 92% of students at Loyola, with 83% receiving a school-sponsored grant or scholarship. First-year students take part in the Messina program, where they are put into groups that take classes together, live near each other, and participate in activities outside of the classroom to foster connections.
The bachelor's program with the highest Salary Score at Mount St. Mary's University is health and physical education/fitness, scoring a 100. Other notable programs include theological and ministerial studies (90), criminology (96), and sociology (93). The program with the overall highest median salary reported by alumni in their first post-graduate year is business/commerce, at $49,340 annually. Graduates of the theological and ministerial studies program report a median salary of $38,290.
School Overview
Mount St. Mary's University is a small, private Catholic school located in Emmitsburg, a small town northwest of Baltimore near the border of Pennsylvania. It has a student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1, and 52% of classes have less than 20 students. Ninety-nine percent of new first-year students receive some type of merit-based aid, and the average financial aid award for the class of 2023 was $35,876.