University of Maryland, College Park

Overview

The University of Maryland (UMD), College Park is among the foremost public research universities in the United States, located approximately eight miles northwest of Washington D.C. It's the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland that sits on a 1,340-acre campus. Since its inception in 1856, the University has grown to be a distinguished national and global institution in research and innovation. The institution is also recognized as the United States’ first “Do Good” campus, an attribute that embodies its unwavering support for social entrepreneurship.

The forerunner of today’s University of Maryland, College Park is the Maryland Agricultural College. The pioneer institution was established by Charles Benedict Calvert two years after the institution was chartered on March 6, 1856. In 1916, the institution became the Maryland State College of Agriculture, and in 1920, it merged with the University of Maryland to form the largest university in the state of Washington.

The University of Maryland, College Park offers comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs across 12 schools and colleges. In total, the university offers more than 200 degree-granting programs, including 83 doctoral programs, 113 master’s programs, and 101 undergraduate majors.

The university also offers 29 living-learning programs and more than 300 study abroad destinations. It’s home to over 41,000 students (representing 50 states and 123 countries), 14,000 staff and faculty, and 388,000 alums.

The most popular majors at the University of Maryland, College Park include biological sciences, computer science, general economics and finance, and general computer engineering. To help students excel in these programs and many others, the institution offers well-established learning and research facilities and eight libraries.

The institution is also surrounded by renowned agencies, such as the National Agricultural Research Center and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center. This, coupled with the institution’s proximity to the nation’s capital has opened doors to multiple collaborations with the government. As a result, the University of Maryland is a major beneficiary of research support and funding from government agencies like NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration, to name a few.

With a history spanning over 150 years, the University of Maryland, College Park has also gone beyond its research achievements. Home of the Terrapins, the university has become one of the most successful and recognizable athletics programs. Since 2005, The University of Maryland has won numerous National Collegiate Athletic Association titles in men’s soccer, women’s basketball, men lacrosse, women lacrosse, and field hockey.

You can also learn more about the educational performance of University of Maryland, College Park in our ranking of US universities & colleges.