Maryland’s Independent Liberal Arts Colleges

The Independent College Fund is a strong group of outstanding colleges and universities in the liberal arts tradition. All of our colleges offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. In addition, three colleges confer doctoral and first professional degrees. Together The I-Fund’s 10 member institutions — stretching from Chestertown to Emmitsburg — educate more than 40,000 students. Maryland’s diverse geography is well represented by our Independent Colleges: from farmlands to mountains, from historic Chesapeake Bay to the heart of the big city. And a rich history follows our 251 year span of college foundations: from 1696 to 1947!

College of Notre Dame of Maryland

A college with a rich heritage of innovation, College of Notre Dame of Maryland educates a diverse population at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Women’s College, the Weekend College for working women and men, and the Graduate Studies program are the principal offerings. Students are part of a vibrant learning community that provides a high-impact education emphasizing professional and personal knowledge, development, and integrity. Students graduate with a renewed energy and confidence to be leaders in their careers, communities, and families.

Located in a residential neighborhood in the northern part of Baltimore, Maryland, the College benefits from both a beautiful campus environment and proximity to the city’s businesses and transportation, as well as cultural, recreational, and professional opportunities.

Founded in 1873 by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), College of Notre Dame of Maryland was the first Catholic college for women to award the fourÐyear baccalaureate degree. Notre Dame’s fundamental dedication to young women endures today, even as the mission has expanded to serve working adults, both male and female.

Mary Pat Seurkamp, President
Baltimore, founded 1873, total enrollment 3,021
www.ndm.edu

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Goucher College

Goucher College is an independent, coeducational institution dedicated to the interdisciplinary traditions of the liberal arts and a broad international perspective on education.

The first college in the nation to pair required study abroad with a special travel stipend of $1,200 for every undergraduate, Goucher believes in complementing its strong majors and rigorous curriculum with abundant opportunities for hands-on experience in the world.

Through internships, community service, and study abroad — and a first-rate arts and sciences academic program — Goucher teaches its students to engage the world as true global citizens.

Sanford Ungar, President
Towson, Founded 1885, total enrollment 2,350
www.goucher.edu

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Hood College

For more than 113 years, Hood College has prepared students for successful careers and the responsibilities of citizenship. Hood takes pride in its long and continuing tradition of providing quality undergraduate and graduate studies.

The College is widely recognized for its degree programs in the natural sciences. It offers 27 undergraduate majors, master’s degrees in 13 professional areas and six certificate and certification programs. Nearly 1,200 undergraduates from across the nation and the world are enrolled at Hood, together with more than 900 graduate students from the region. Hood’s full-time faculty numbers more than 80, 96 percent of whom hold the Ph.D. or highest degree awarded in their field; another 98 men and women, many of them scientists and professionals of national eminence, serve as adjunct faculty.

Hood College prepares its students to excel in meeting the personal, professional, and global challenges of the future. It is committed to the thoughtful integration of the liberal arts and technology, to the exploration of values and the cultivation of community and to equipping students for lives of responsibility and leadership. In all that it does, Hood recognizes that a strong foundation in the liberal arts provides the best possible preparation for personal and professional success.

Ronald J. Volpe, President
Frederick, founded 1893, total enrollment 1,693
www.hood.edu

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Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University was the first research university in the United States. Founded in 1876, it was an entirely new educational enterprise. Its aim was not only to advance students’ knowledge, but also to advance human knowledge generally, through discovery and scholarship. The university’s emphasis on both learning and research — and on how each complements the other — revolutionized U.S. higher education. Today, Johns Hopkins has ventured from its home in Baltimore to countries throughout the world — China, Italy and Singapore, among many others. It remains a world leader in teaching, patient care and discovery.

Ronald J. Daniels, President
Baltimore, founded 1876 total enrollment 18,235
www.jhu.edu

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Loyola University Maryland

The education of men and women of compassion and competence, imbued with the desire to seek in all things the greater glory of God, represents the enduring aspiration of Loyola University Maryland in Maryland. That ideal, first elucidated by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus and namesake of this university, continues to guide Loyola as it strives to lead students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends forward to the promise of an examined life of intellectual, social and spiritual discernment.

In pursuing these goals, Loyola asserts a bold ambition: that the College will be among the top Catholic universities in the United States. The standards by which we measure that achievement will be many: the enrollment of outstanding students; the creation of a diverse and supportive community; the cultivation of a rigorous intellectual climate; the scholarly achievements of the faculty; the recognition of peers; the intellectual and professional attainments and generosity of spirit of the alumni.

Loyola will do so by providing undergraduate students with a liberal education that transforms them, that ensures they place the highest value on the intellectual life, and that instills in them an understanding that leadership and service to the world are intimately connected. Likewise, Loyola will be a recognized leader in graduate education, offering programs which are responsive to the needs of the professional and academic communities it serves, inspiring its graduate students to leadership, and inculcating in them the knowledge that service to the larger world is a defining measure of their professional responsibilities fully understood.

In all of this, Loyola University Maryland will remain ever mindful of the Jesuit precept that the aim of all education ultimately is the ennoblement of the human spirit.

Brian Linnane, S.J., President
Baltimore, founded 1852, total enrollment 6,300
www.loyola.edu

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McDaniel College

McDaniel College is a private, selective college of the liberal arts and sciences offering a life-changing education to undergraduate and graduate students. One of the first things you’ll notice is the sense of community that defines McDaniel. Professors are first and foremost teachers and mentors: you’ll see them cheering from the sidelines of a soccer match or chatting with students over lunch in the Pub...

Other life-changing opportunities: classes that average 17 students; more than 100 clubs, organizations, and athletics teams; and the opportunity to study at the only U.S. college campus in Budapest, Hungary.

Just wait until you see our campus in Maryland: a spectacular hilltop setting with a view of the Catoctin Mountains, yet close to the vast resources of the nation’s capital in D.C. and the city of Baltimore.

Our mission is you — your education and your future. Students are the focus at McDaniel, and providing the ideal learning environment for you is our goal. Centered in the liberal arts and sciences, a McDaniel education teaches you to think and act critically, creatively, and humanely. Combined with leadership and knowledge in your field, these are the skills that you’ll need to surmount the challenges of your future.

The College has grown from the original 37 undergraduate students to 1,600 undergraduates and 1,300 graduate students. There are now 40 buildings instead of one on the 160-acre campus. Students come from all over the country and most of the world’s continents to the close-knit community, where learning is collaborative not competitive and every student receives personal attention.

Joan Develin Coley, President
Westminster, founder 1867, total enrollment 3,374
www.mcdaniel.edu

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Mount Saint Mary’s University

The story of the Mount is a uniquely American story — quite simply, the story of the Catholic Church in America. Father John DuBois, on a voyage filled with courage, faith and determination, settled on our spectacular mountainside and founded Mount St. Mary’s in 1808.

Now, almost 200 years later, the Mount’s outstanding faculty, staff and student body are on a voyage of faith, discovery, leadership and community. Our goal is to prepare leaders: for the church, our nation, our communities, the professions and, most importantly, for social change.

Does science have all of the answers? Or history? Economics? Education? Theology? At a liberal arts institution such as Mount St. Mary’s University, you will explore these fields and more as you join a community dedicated to the pursuit of truth. Along the way, you’ll develop the writing, reading, critical thinking and speaking skills that will not only enhance your career opportunities, but your life.

At the Mount, your search begins with freshman seminar, continuing through our nationally recognized core curriculum and focusing on the major field (or fields!) of study that mesh with your interests.

Thomas H. Powell, President
Emmitsburg, founded 1808, total enrollment 2,125
www.msmary.edu

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St. John’s College

St. John’s College is a co-educational, four year liberal arts college known for its distinctive “great books” curriculum.

The all-required course of study is based on the reading, study, and discussion of the most important books of the Western tradition. There are no majors and no departments; all students follow the same program.

Students study from the classics of literature, philosophy, theology, psychology, political science, economics, history, mathematics, laboratory sciences, and music. No textbooks are used. The books are read in roughly chronological order, beginning with ancient Greece and continuing to modern times.

All classes are discussion-based. There are no class lectures; instead, the students meet together with faculty members (called tutors) to explore the books being read.

St. John’s College is a community dedicated to liberal education. Such education seeks to free men and women from the tyrannies of unexamined opinions and inherited prejudices. It also endeavors to enable them to make intelligent, free choices concerning the ends and means of both public and private life.

At St. John’s, freedom is pursued mainly through thoughtful conversation about great books of the Western tradition. The books that are at the heart of learning at St. John’s stand among the original sources of our intellectual tradition. They are timeless and timely; they not only illuminate the persisting questions of human existence, but also have great relevance to contemporary problems. They change our minds, move our hearts, and touch our spirits.

Christopher B. Nelson, President
Annapolis, founded 1696, total enrollment 470
www.sjca.edu

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Stevenson University

Stevenson University (formerly Villa Julie College) is an independent coeducational university with two campuses located just outside of Baltimore in Stevenson and Owings Mills, Maryland. More than 3,000 students attend Stevenson U., which offers traditional bachelor's, accelerated bachelor's and master's degrees in a distinctive career-focused environment.

Over the past several years, the University has grown in recognition as a "best value" by several national sources and for its distinctive liberal arts plus career focus. We encourage our students to explore opportunities outside the classroom by "Learning Beyond" through internships, study abroad, service learning and more. Career Architecture^SM, an award-winning process developed for our students, allows them to create a career plan based on their own special values, skills and interests.

Stevenson University is a special place. Located just minutes from the city of Baltimore in a beautiful suburban setting, the two campuses provide the best of both worlds. Student residences, a bustling student center, a health and wellness center and a new academic building for the School of Business and Leadership give the Owings Mills campus a vibrant atmosphere. The founding campus on Greenspring Valley Road provides a calming location for classes, cultural events and student activities.

Our adult programs continue to expand. Stevenson U. developed the area's first accelerated programs to meet the needs of busy working adults who want to complete their bachelor's degree or earn a master's degree. We offer on-site and online options to students interested in earning their degrees and pursuing their career goals while maintaining their job and family schedules. Some degrees can be completed in as few as 18 months.

Kevin J. Manning, President
Stevenson, founded 1947, total enrollment 3,000
www.stevenson.edu

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Washington College

Washington College is a private liberal arts college located in the beautiful Chesapeake Bay region on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, just 90 minutes from Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia.

Founded in 1782, WC is the tenth oldest college in the nation and was named after our patron, George Washington, who served on its first board of governors. The size of WC presents students with a rare opportunity to enjoy a close-knit, community atmosphere while its academic diversity enables students to choose from a wide variety of pursuits, both inside and outside the classroom.

WC offers a distinctive creative writing program, one of the nation’s few undergraduate behavioral neuroscience programs, and a new environmental studies major, while the beautiful Chesapeake region serves as an “outdoor classroom” for both the arts and sciences.

Our students are young leaders, gifted writers, budding scientists, and determined athletes. The Washington legacy has served as a model for leadership, participation and involvement. The athletics program at WC is highly competitive, producing national champions in lacrosse and tennis.

Baird Tipson, President
Chestertown, founded 1782, total enrollment 1,400
www.washcoll.edu

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