Best Value Colleges in Maryland
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Maryland high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 18 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 0.9 years at the fastest to 35.7 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 2.8 years to repay its net price, 0.4 years faster than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (8) have a median payback of 2.5 years against 3.3 years for the 10 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Johns Hopkins University ranks first at 0.9 years, ahead of University of Maryland-College Park (1.3 years) and University of Maryland-Baltimore County (1.8 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Maryland
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Maryland has 18
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 18 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.9 years | $18,809 | $117,419 | $10,250 | 94% |
| 2 | University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD Public · 4-year | 1.3 years | $15,678 | $84,365 | $19,000 | 89% |
| 3 | University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD Public · 4-year | 1.8 years | $16,467 | $74,396 | $19,500 | 70% |
| 4 | University of Baltimore Baltimore, MD Public · 4-year | 1.8 years | $13,868 | $67,949 | $23,250 | 43% |
| 5 | Notre Dame of Maryland University Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $19,169 | $75,732 | $22,666 | 51% |
| 6 | Morgan State University Baltimore, MD Public · 4-year | 2.4 years | $14,985 | $62,308 | $27,250 | 41% |
| 7 | Towson University Towson, MD Public · 4-year | 2.5 years | $17,413 | $65,610 | $18,718 | 69% |
| 8 | Hood College Frederick, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $20,873 | $70,173 | $25,000 | 56% |
| 9 | Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.8 years | $30,574 | $81,772 | $27,000 | 80% |
| 10 | Salisbury University Salisbury, MD Public · 4-year | 2.9 years | $17,743 | $61,985 | $21,000 | 68% |
| 11 | McDaniel College Westminster, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.1 years | $21,916 | $65,855 | $25,000 | 64% |
| 12 | Frostburg State University Frostburg, MD Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $16,715 | $58,511 | $21,105 | 51% |
| 13 | St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City, MD Public · 4-year | 3.3 years | $18,441 | $60,029 | $21,000 | 69% |
| 14 | Mount St. Mary's University Emmitsburg, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $22,655 | $64,424 | $25,391 | 62% |
| 15 | Stevenson University Owings Mills, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $26,505 | $66,853 | $26,000 | 67% |
| 16 | Goucher College Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.6 years | $22,470 | $57,036 | $26,000 | 59% |
| 17 | Washington College Chestertown, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.3 years | $27,898 | $58,768 | $26,956 | 70% |
| 18 | Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, MD Private nonprofit · 4-year | 35.7 years | $42,729 | $42,353 | $26,500 | 72% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
Guides worth reading first
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All 44 colleges in Maryland See the national version of this ranking