---
title: "UMD Earns Top Marks for Value, Student Outcomes and Research from Washington Monthly"
date: 2026-09-08T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-earns-top-marks-for-value-student-outcomes-and-research-from-washington-monthly"
section: Articles
---
# UMD Earns Top Marks for Value, Student Outcomes and Research from Washington Monthly
*September 8, 2026* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)
> National rankings measure affordability, access, outcomes and public service.
*First day of classes for the fall semester, 2026, on August 31, 2026.
Photo by Dylan Singleton/University of Maryland — Students on the first day of the Fall 2026 semester. UMD ranks No. 20 among public universities in the Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars: Northeast list. (Photo by Dylan Singleton)*
The University of Maryland earned high marks for the value it provides to students and its contributions to research and innovation in *Washington Monthly*’s [2026 College Guide and Rankings.](https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026-college-guide/)
The publication evaluated 1,504 colleges nationwide on ”how much they help ordinary middle- and working-class students get ahead in life, and whether they encourage those students to participate in their democracy,” it said. The annual rankings are based on the institutions’ contribution to the public good in four broad categories: access, affordability, outcomes and promoting public service. UMD ranks No. 20 among public universities in the [Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars: Northeast](https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026-college-guide/2026-best-colleges-for-your-tuition-and-tax-dollars-northeast/) list.
UMD stands out across several measures of student value in the Northeast among public universities. It ranks No. 17 for affordability, which tracks the net price of the institution along with how much debt graduates leave with. Among publics, the university has the 14th-lowest net price in the region and the lowest in the state.
UMD also placed at No. 22 for access in the Northeast, which is based, among other metrics, on how many students have federal Pell Grants (awarded for high financial need) compared to how many Pell recipients those schools might be expected to enroll based on test scores, admission rates and statewide family income. Last month, UMD also ranked in the top 25 among U.S. four-year public institutions for “Colleges With the Best 6-Year Graduation Rates for Pell Students” in the 2026-27 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Almanac.
In addition, the university shines among publics in the region in several other areas: It has the second-highest eight-year graduation rate and sixth-highest graduate earnings amount and ranks No. 4 for the share of undergraduate alums who later receive a Ph.D.
UMD is also recognized for the scale and impact of its research enterprise, ranking No. 24 among public universities nationally on the list of [Best Colleges for Research](https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/08/30/americas-best-colleges-for-research-universities/), No. 16 among publics and No. 21 overall for science and engineering Ph.D.s awarded, and No. 19 among publics for research expenditures.
This ranking is one of several recognitions for the university’s growing investment in research, including climbing to the top 10 among U.S. public institutions in the National Science Foundation’s latest Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) [survey](https://ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/higher-education-research-development/2022#survey-info), a widely recognized census that ranks universities based on research and development expenditures.
**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)
**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)