Online and On-Campus Colleges in MARYLAND

Founded in 1856 as Maryland Agricultural College, the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland features today's second-largest enrollment figure among all Maryland colleges. The student body at the University of Maryland, College Park numbers near 40,000 -- a statistic to keep in mind if you thrive in a bustling campus environment.

Despite such a large student population, the student-teacher ratio here is just 17:1, right around the national average. Degree program offerings at UMCP include more than 200 programs, including 90+ undergraduate majors and over 100 graduate study plans.

Both faculty and students at UMCP have earned awards for their scholarly work and other achievements. The university is home to fewer than 17 Fulbright Scholars, and the faculty includes three Nobel laureates, two Pulitzer prize winners and recipients of three Emmy and two Tony awards.

Located in Towson, a suburb of Baltimore, Towson University is another of the top schools in Maryland by enrollment. A total of more than 22,000 students are pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees from Towson's six academic colleges.

Students looking to earn a graduate degree or certificate via online courses have quite a few options to choose from at Towson. Online degree programs include Master of Science (M.S.) plans in kinesiology, nursing and applied information technology. Post-baccalaureate certificates are available in a range of fields, including interactive media design, software engineering and autism studies

There's also one point of pride at Towson that not many institutions can claim. The university's competitive dance team is one of the best in the nation, winning their 18th National Dance Alliance (NDA) championship in 2018.

Johns Hopkins University established itself as the first research university in the U.S. at its founding in 1876, and the esteemed Baltimore institution has done everything in its power to live up to that legacy. Nearly 70 percent of undergraduates here engage in some form of research, and no other school in the country is awarded more federal research and development funding

The largest student body among private Maryland universities can be found here -- more than 24,000 in 2018 -- with approximately three-fourths of that number pursuing graduate degrees. Despite the sheer number of students here, the undergraduate student-faculty ratio is just 10:1.

Johns Hopkins also deserves a place among the top colleges and universities in Maryland for online graduate study. More than 50 fully online master's degrees are available, with an additional 20 hybrid plans.

The Baltimore County location of the University of Maryland earned a special distinction in 2017: the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) ranked it among the top two percent of all universities worldwide. Johns Hopkins and UMCP were the only other top Maryland colleges to land so high on the world rankings.

This medium-sized university just outside the Baltimore Beltway features a total student body of around 13,600, with more than 11,000 undergraduates and close to 2,500 graduate students. Bachelor's degree offerings here number close to 50, and more than 40 graduate and undergraduate certificates are available for either full- or part-time students.

Arts and cultural events are an important part of student life at UMBC. The campus houses two art galleries, features two professional dance companies and maintains state-of-the-art facilities for its theater, dance and music departments.

Initially founded as a two-year teacher's college, Salisbury University grew quickly into bachelor's degree authorization and now offers accredited degree programs for undergraduates, graduates and post-grads. More than 40 undergraduate majors are available for the student body of over 8,700, and doctoral programs are available in education and nursing.

SU works to provide affordable education for its students, and its efforts have been recognized by numerous national collegiate rating agencies. Kiplinger's Best College Values lists the Salisbury institution among its top 100 schools, for one, and Money magazine names SU on its Best Colleges For Your Money list for 2017.

Science and health care majors dominate the list of most popular undergraduate degrees at SU. Biology was the No. 1 degree by enrollment in fall 2016, with nursing and exercise science taking the other two spots in the top three.

McDaniel College is a private liberal arts institution located in Westminster, about 40 miles northeast of Baltimore. It's a relatively small institution, reporting around 3,000 enrolled students in 2016, which helps maintain a comfortable ratio of 11 students per faculty member and an average class size of just 15 students.

The undergraduate curriculum at McDaniel has its basis in the liberal arts and sciences and is designed with enough flexibility to let students fill a large portion of their schedule with courses that suit their interests and ambitions. The institution is more residential than most, as well -- more than 80 percent of McDaniel students live in on-campus housing.

McDaniel also offers a unique opportunity for students hoping to study abroad in Europe. The college maintains a satellite campus in Budapest, Hungary, where all stateside financial aid awards still apply.

As another small, private liberal arts institution among the best Maryland colleges, Loyola University Maryland has a student-faculty ratio more than 30 percent better than the national average. The institution was founded in downtown Baltimore in 1852 and moved to its current location north of the city center in the 1920s.

The approximately 4,100 undergraduates at Loyola can choose among 23 Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) programs, six Bachelor of Science (B.S.) plans and half a dozen subject-specific bachelor's degrees in business and engineering. Subjects of graduate study include business, education, psychology, theology and data science.

Loyola identifies as a Catholic university, but the institution welcomes students of other faiths. The Jesuit tradition focuses its instruction on the liberal arts and sciences, although two courses on Christian/Catholic theology are required in the core curriculum.

Frostburg State University is one of the smaller institutions by enrollment in the University System of Maryland, with a total population of fewer than 5,400 students, but its three academic colleges still offer plenty of educational opportunity. Nearly 50 undergraduate subjects of study are available here, including some exotic programs like animal behavior, ethnobotany and adventure sports management.

FSU may also belong among of the best schools in Maryland for online degrees, according to nationwide education ranking agencies. Its online graduate programs in business and education are well-regarded nationally, and it offers a rare online master's degree in recreation and parks management.

The distance education catalog here also features a helpful program for registered nurses (RNs) hoping to advance their career. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N) degree can be earned fully online if you've already had RN training.

The origins of Stevenson University lie within the Catholic Church. It was founded as an all-female medical secretary's college by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, but it split from the Church in 1967 and now operates as an independent, secular institution. The Owings Mills campus has admitted both men and women since 1972.

The success of students from its pre-professional programs is a point of pride at Stevenson. Graduates with preparatory degrees in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy and veterinary medicine were accepted into their advanced programs at a nearly 90 percent rate.

Stevenson is also one of the top online colleges in Maryland, offering more than 30 bachelor's, master's and certificate programs. Online programs in certain disciplines may even help you accelerate the process of earning both a bachelor's and a master's degree.

St. Mary's College of Maryland styles itself as Maryland's public honors college, boasting the affordability, accessibility and diversity of a public institution with the high academic standards and small-school feel of more expensive and exclusive private schools. Total enrollment in 2017 tallied fewer than 1,700 students, and the student-faculty ratio is 10:1.

Academics at St. Mary's focus on undergraduate programs, with just one of graduate degree on offer -- a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) available through a dual-level bachelor's and master's program in the field. The most popular B.S. and B.A. degrees here are biology, economics, English, political science and psychology.

The institution's home of St. Mary's City is steeped in history from its nearly five centuries of existence. It served as the state's first capital and features faithful recreations of architecture, sea travel and civic life from colonial Maryland.