Columbia vs University of Maryland-College Park (UMD)

Columbia University and University of Maryland-College Park, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Columbia, a private Ivy League university in New York City, boasts a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 6.1%, while Maryland, a public research university in College Park, Maryland, offers a more accessible admissions process with an acceptance rate of 44.6%. Columbia's student body is smaller and more diverse, with a total enrollment of 32,000 students, while Maryland's student body is larger and more diverse, with a total enrollment of over 41,000 students. Both universities offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, with Columbia being particularly renowned for its strength in the humanities, social sciences, and business, and Maryland being particularly renowned for its strength in engineering, computer science, and public policy. To help you make an informed decision about your higher education journey, we have compiled a comprehensive comparison table
Columbia University logo

Columbia University

University of Maryland-College Park logo

University of Maryland-College Park

Overview

Location New York, New York College Park, Maryland
Campus setting City: Large Suburb: Large
College type 4 year 4 year
Control/business model Private (Non Profit) Public
Calendar system Semester Semester
Degrees offered Undergraduate and Graduate Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate 99.0% 95.0%
Common app member Yes Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission

Acceptance rate 4.1% 52.0%
Application fees
Undergraduate: $85

Graduate: $120
Undergraduate: $75

Graduate: $75
SAT range 1470 - 1570 1330 - 1510
ACT range 34 - 35 30 - 34
Students submitting SAT score 43.0% 34.0%
Students submitting ACT score 28.0% 9.0%
Total number of applicants 61,110 50,183
Total number of admissions given out 2,524 26,109
Admitted students who chose to enroll 1,641 6,072
Yield rate 65.0% 23.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT) N/A N/A
High school GPA Not required Required
Recommendation letters Required Not required
High school transcript Not required Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL) Not required Required

Tuition and Fees

Sticker price $90,882
In state: $30,997

Out of state: $58,678
Average net price $12,411 $17,146
Tuition $60,514
In state: $9,000

Out of state: $36,681
Room & board
Room/dormitory: $9,450

Meal plan: $6,000
Room/dormitory: $8,072

Meal plan: $5,578
Available payment plans
  • Prepaid tuition plan
  • Tuition payment plan
  • Prepaid tuition plan
  • Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid

Students receiving financial aid

(Grants & scholarships)

53.0%
Average amount $57,726
56.0%
Average amount $10,645
Students receiving federal student loan 7.0%
Average amount $5,511
20.0%
Average amount $5,065
Students taking out private loans 2.0%
Average amount $34,119
4.0%
Average amount $22,924

Students and Campus

Undergraduate students 8,832
Men 50.6% Women 49.4%
30,922
Men 50.8% Women 49.2%
Graduate students 24,944
Men 44.8% Women 55.2%
10,350
Men 50.7% Women 49.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity
Moderate
Moderate
Out-of-state students N/A 29.5%
International students 37.0% 10.3%
Campus local/setting City: Large Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity 13,071 11,846
First year students are required to live on campus? No No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from N/A Maryland New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Virginia

Academics

Popular study areas
  • Business
  • Health Professions
  • Engineering
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Public Administration and Social Service
  • Engineering
  • Business
  • Education
  • Computer and Information Science
  • Social Sciences
Students to faculty ratio 6:1 18:1
Institutional accreditation Middle States Commission on Higher Education Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome

Graduation rate 97.4% 87.7%
Dropout rate 1.7% 4.0%
Transferred out 0.7% 7.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)
Law (First Professional Degrees)
  • Year 1: $193,362
  • Year 2: $180,752
  • Year 3: $230,020
Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $162,427
  • Year 2: $170,426
  • Year 3: $179,305
Management Information Systems and Services (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $153,730
  • Year 2: $160,605
  • Year 3: $167,216
Computer Science (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $133,851
  • Year 2: $143,033
  • Year 3: $166,695
Operations Research (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $111,312
  • Year 2: $114,503
  • Year 3: $148,040
Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $108,903
  • Year 2: $103,078
  • Year 3: $135,658
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: $115,222
  • Year 2: $127,993
  • Year 3: $131,926
Construction Management (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $98,322
  • Year 2: $110,878
  • Year 3: $125,926
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $111,569
  • Year 2: $109,659
  • Year 3: $119,899
Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $92,223
  • Year 2: $100,127
  • Year 3: $118,332
Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $108,765
  • Year 2: $106,102
  • Year 3: $116,295
Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: $125,155
  • Year 2: $112,923
  • Year 3: $112,074
Engineering, General (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $86,533
  • Year 2: $94,112
  • Year 3: $102,555
Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $93,018
  • Year 2: $94,408
  • Year 3: $101,716
Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $84,727
  • Year 2: $84,653
  • Year 3: $99,501
Physics (Doctoral Degrees)
  • Year 1: N/A
  • Year 2: $72,899
  • Year 3: $92,830
Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $88,418
  • Year 2: $80,466
  • Year 3: $92,230
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $67,675
  • Year 2: $72,762
  • Year 3: $83,667
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $74,798
  • Year 2: $71,761
  • Year 3: $82,867
Information Science/Studies (Bachelor's Degrees)
  • Year 1: $67,391
  • Year 2: $66,485
  • Year 3: $82,784

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The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.
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