INSTITUTION
- Public liberal arts mission, co-educational, non-religious.
- Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
- Member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC).

Official designation as a Public Honors College, one of only two nationally.
TOP 5
Public liberal arts colleges in the nation
(U.S. News & World Report, 2021)
(U.S. News & World Report, 2021)
Enrollment
- The majority of St. Mary’s College students are Maryland residents, although students from 26 states and 8 nations are represented in our community.
Total Enrollment,
fall 2020:
1,510
students
27%
BIPOC
(fall 2020)
(fall 2020)
CAMPUS LIFE
- 8 housing areas (coed and single sex halls, suites, apartments, and townhouses).
- An All Star Award Winner in Campus Labs’ Annual Awards Program, Highlighting Innovative Approach in Using Technology to Address Campus Needs.
- Recognized by EPA as Top Green Power User in the Capital Athletic Conference in 2018-19.
78%
of St.Mary’s College
students live on campus
(fall 2019)
students live on campus
(fall 2019)
21
varsity athletic teams
(NCAA, Division III,
ICSA, Mid-Atlantic Rowing
Conference)
(NCAA, Division III,
ICSA, Mid-Atlantic Rowing
Conference)
70+
student clubs
and organizations
and organizations
BEST
college food
in Maryland
(Niche, 2021)
in Maryland
(Niche, 2021)
HISTORICAL DATES
1840
The school was founded when the Maryland legislature authorized a lottery to finance the construction of a “female seminary” (girls’ boarding school) in St. Mary’s City.
1846
The school was incorporated by an act of legislation.
1927
St. Mary’s became Maryland’s first junior college.
1964
The school changed its name to St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
1967
St. Mary’s became a four-year baccalaureate college.
1992
The state General Assembly designated the school Maryland’s public honors college; the state also granted the College an institutional status designed to assure stable public funding.
ACADEMICS
- Popular degree programs: psychology, biology, English, environmental studies, political science, economics.
- 134 full-time faculty.
- 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio, one of the lowest in the nation.
- 25 study abroad programs. 37% of the graduating class of 2020 studied abroad.
- The 2nd highest percentage of student-athletes on Capital Athletic Conference’s All-Academic team for 4 years in a row.
- 98% of our faculty hold the highest attainable degrees in their respective fields of study.
- Number of current faculty who are Fulbright Awardees: 14.
- Among the highest percentage of any Maryland school, 30% of all students graduate with a STEM major.
60
ACADEMIC
PROGRAMS
PROGRAMS
24
Majors
Majors
29
Minors
Minors
Degrees
Offered
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.),
Bachelor of Science (B.S.),
Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.)
Bachelor of Science (B.S.),
Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.)
New
DEGREE
PROGRAMS
Marine Science
& Neuroscience
& Neuroscience
69%
of St. Mary’s College students major or minor in a second academic discipline
Among the
HIGHEST FOUR-YEAR
GRADUATION RATE
and the
LOWEST AVERAGE DEBT
among graduates of all
Maryland public 4-year institutions
HIGHEST FOUR-YEAR
GRADUATION RATE
and the
LOWEST AVERAGE DEBT
among graduates of all
Maryland public 4-year institutions
Member of the
phi beta
kappa honor
society
Location
- 361-acre waterfront campus adjacent to historic St. Mary’s City, Md., founded in 1634. (Fourth oldest permanent English settlement in North America).
- 75 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. and 97 miles south of Baltimore near the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.
