Who we are
As The National Public Honors College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland offers an undergraduate liberal arts education and small-college experience like those found at exceptional private colleges. St. Mary’s College shares the hallmarks of private institutions: an outstanding faculty, talented students, high academic standards, a challenging curriculum, small classes, a sense of community, and a spirit of intellectual inquiry. But as a state institution of higher education, St. Mary’s College is also committed to the ideals of affordability, accessibility, and diversity. By combining these virtues of public and private education, St. Mary’s College provides a unique alternative for students and their families.
Location
Founded on the site of Maryland's first capital, St. Mary's College of Maryland stands as a living legacy to the ideals of freedom and inclusiveness.
Our beautiful residential campus on the banks of the St. Mary's River inspires our work, our play and our commitment to the environment.
History of The College
St. Mary’s College of Maryland rests on land deeply rooted in Maryland’s early colonial and Indigenous history. The campus lies along a bend of the St. Mary’s River—territory once home to the Yaocomaco people—and near where English colonists arrived with the Ark and Dove in 1634 and established St. Mary’s City, the original colonial capital of Maryland.
Over the centuries, the institution evolved from a seminary and female academy into a public honors college. In 1927, it became Maryland’s first junior college; by the mid-20th century it transitioned into a fully coeducational four-year institution, and in 1992 the state officially recognized it as Maryland’s public honors college.
You can learn more about its full history, land acknowledgment, and remembrance efforts below:
