University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland in Baltimore County (UMBC) is one of 50 public institutions recognized by The Princeton Review as a “Best Value College” and chosen as one of the best universities for undergraduate teaching and innovation in higher education. For more than a decade, UMBC was also named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” universities by U.S. News and World Report.
Its founders believed that education should be innovative, interdisciplinary, and inclusive. Those central tenets continue today, as the university focuses on undergraduate success as well as ground-breaking research.
Fast Facts
- College Type: Public
- Program Type: 4 -Year University
- College Size: Large (Over 5,000 students)
- Campus Setting: Urban
Academic programs at UMBC focus on the natural sciences, engineering, as well as liberal arts. It has also become known as a powerhouse for STEM majors. Students can choose from 44 majors, 41 minors, 20 certificate and 13 pre-professional programs, as well as 37 master's degree programs, 24 doctoral degree programs, and 21 graduate certificate programs. The university offers many scholarship programs to support underrepresented students as well as to foster awareness in engineering, math, and science.
The 500-acre campus is 45 minutes from Washington, D.C. and is easily accessible via the Baltimore-Washington International Airport as well as AMTRAK and Baltimore Light Rail stations. The campus also includes a 70-acre research and technology park that hosts bioscience, research, and technology organizations, including the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forestry Service, Convergent Technology, and Goddard Earth Science and Technology Center.
There are more than 200 student-run clubs on campus, in addition to many NCAA Division I sports programs. Several of the university’s teams have gone on to be tournament champions. The school has also won the Pan American Chess Tournament for nine years.