The University of Maryland, Baltimore County topped a list of "up-and-coming" national universities in the annual college rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report magazine.
Students and administrators said the ranking confirms what they already knew: that UMBC has set itself apart by encouraging undergraduates to publish research, by recruiting minorities to study science and math and by emphasizing excellent teaching.
"I can't think of a better description for us than 'up-and-coming,' " said Katie Dix, a senior from Baltimore. "There are a lot of great things going on here, but there is also a lot of room to keep going up. This is a kind of payoff for all the work we've put in, a sign that we're making a name for ourselves."
U.S. News also placed UMBC No. 4 on a list of national universities most committed to teaching undergraduates, tied with Stanford and in the same company as Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale and Brown.
"This is an exciting place for major problem-solving in the social sciences, in the engineering sciences," said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III. "People here are working on the really sticky problems of the day, and undergraduates get a chance to participate in that."
Being at the top of such lists is important, said the jubilant Hrabowski, "because it allows people in Maryland to see how we're viewed nationally."
To determine its "up-and-coming" lists, U.S. News asks university presidents, provosts and admissions officials to nominate schools that are making rapid improvements in academics, faculty, students, campus life, diversity and facilities. UMBC finished No. 5 on the list last year.
Though U.S. News doesn't provide specific reasons for the ranking, UMBC has gained attention in the last decade for opening an on-campus research park, bringing minorities to the sciences with its Meyerhoff Scholarship program and for pairing undergraduates with top scientists such as HIV researcher Michael Summers.
UMBC wasn't the only Maryland school to make the up-and-coming list. Stevenson University ranked second among baccalaureate colleges (schools that focus on undergraduate and pre-professional offerings) in the North region. In addition, Loyola College was ranked fourth in the North region among master's universities, which offer a full array of undergraduate and graduate courses but few, if any, doctoral programs.
