The University of Maryland ranks high among the nation’s colleges and universities having academic programs that are believed to lead to student success, according to annual U.S. News and World Report polls of college presidents and deans of students. Maryland has been recognized in four or more categories every year since the poll results were first published in 2003.

For 2009, Maryland, Stanford and Elon University are the only institutions named in all four of the categories shown below.  Maryland is the only member of the nation's Top 25 Public Universities to be so honored.  Two other Top 25 publics -- Michigan and Ohio State -- each were named in three of the four categories.  

•	Learning communities where students may take two or more linked courses as a group and thus get to know their instructors and one another well. University Honors, College Park Scholars and CIVICUS living-learning communities at Maryland have been cited as pre-eminent examples.
•	First-year experience programs such as seminars led by faculty and staff members that go beyond traditional Orientation to help freshman students feel connected to their chosen university or college.
•	Service learning programs where student volunteer in a campus’s neighboring communities and are helped in the classroom see a direct connection between their field experience and their academic studies.
•	Undergraduate research/creative projects marked by work in teams under the supervision of a faculty member and resulting in a scholarly paper or other product that can be formally presented on or off campus.

the connections that are made with students who share similar interests,

the substantial contact that occurs with individual faculty members
outside the classroom,

enhanced programmatic opportunities,

specialized guidance on academic and career planning,

frequent service learning opportunities, and

creative utilization of the research, cultural, natural and political
resources of the Baltimore-Washington, DC-Annapolis area.