Degree Dividend
Sourced from federal dataEvery figure datedNo rankings for sale

Best colleges in Maryland, ranked by ROI

All 52 Maryland institutions we profile, ranked by payback years — total net cost divided by earnings above the $48,360 high-school baseline. Federal net price and earnings; payback is our math. (Scorecard, 2026.)

$17,578
Median net price / yr
Scorecard, 2026
$47,623
Median earnings, 10 yrs
Scorecard, 2026
5.8 yrs
Median payback
Our math, 2026
52
Colleges ranked
degreedividend.com
Maryland colleges by payback (best first)
#CollegeNet price/yrEarnings 10yPayback
1University of Maryland-College Park$15,678$82,8601.8 yrs
2Johns Hopkins University$18,809$87,5551.9 yrs
3Capitol Technology University$22,102$85,0352.4 yrs
4University of Maryland-Baltimore County$16,467$69,9603 yrs
5Ner Israel Rabbinical College$13,572$66,3303 yrs
6Loyola University Maryland$30,574$82,6523.6 yrs
7Towson University$17,413$64,3904.3 yrs
8University of Baltimore$13,868$61,3354.3 yrs
9Notre Dame of Maryland University$19,169$65,3444.5 yrs
10Washington Adventist University$18,526$64,2494.7 yrs
11University of Maryland Global Campus$22,063$65,2875.2 yrs
12Salisbury University$17,743$61,5155.4 yrs
13Mount St. Mary's University$22,655$64,0725.8 yrs
14St. Mary's College of Maryland$18,441$60,1106.3 yrs
15Washington College$27,898$65,5186.5 yrs
16McDaniel College$21,916$60,6637.1 yrs
17Stevenson University$26,505$62,0797.7 yrs
18Montgomery College$8,027$50,1598.9 yrs
19Frostburg State University$16,715$55,4939.4 yrs
20Hood College$20,873$57,0899.6 yrs
21Bowie State University$19,298$54,53712.5 yrs
22Goucher College$22,470$53,02319.3 yrs
23Morgan State University$14,985$50,69825.6 yrs
24Howard Community College$11,133$49,02033.7 yrs
25St. John's College$45,597$51,58456.6 yrs
26Prince George's Community College$8,672$47,548no payback
27Frederick Community College$9,465$46,449no payback
28University of Maryland Eastern Shore$13,338$47,697no payback
29Anne Arundel Community College$14,915$46,219no payback
30Coppin State University$9,977$46,490no payback
31Carroll Community College$2,725$44,349no payback
32Harford Community College$9,234$44,608no payback
33Cecil College$9,658$43,952no payback
34Community College of Baltimore County$9,844$43,729no payback
35College of Southern Maryland$9,204$44,435no payback
36Hagerstown Community College$6,835$41,615no payback
37Hair Academy II$23,444$43,383no payback
38North American Trade Schools$8,597$39,756no payback
39Allegany College of Maryland$8,819$38,476no payback
40Maryland Institute College of Art$42,729$45,212no payback
41Wor-Wic Community College$9,360$36,748no payback
42Chesapeake College$5,106$36,301no payback
43Garrett College$9,228$35,823no payback
44Baltimore City Community College$15,987$36,025no payback
45Lincoln College of Technology-Columbia$34,306$38,683no payback
46Fortis College-Landover$26,578$36,920no payback
47Fortis Institute-Towson$31,549$36,368no payback
48All-State Career-Baltimore$18,233$33,193no payback
49Cortiva Institute$26,328$30,474no payback
50The Temple Annapolis-A Paul Mitchell Partner School$31,528$27,891no payback
51Hair Academy$20,565$20,953no payback
52Montgomery Beauty School-Baltimore Beauty & Barber School$19,047$18,726no payback

College Scorecard (2026), institution-level · ranking and payback are our math. Payback uses institution-wide earnings; a specific major can rank very differently.