There are 19 two-year institutions that grant associate degrees in Maryland, according to College Navigator.
According to College Board, the average Maryland resident paid an estimated $4,905 in tuition and fees at in-district community colleges during the 2022-23 school year.
Around 80.6% of community college students received some type of financial aid, such as scholarships, grants, work-study opportunities, and loans, during the 2019-20 school year.
This list features some of the best community colleges in Maryland. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions. We included small, midsize, and large colleges as well as trade, technical, and vocational programs. Next, we compared this comprehensive list to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
The colleges on our list are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accreditation (MSCHE), a reputable organization that examines objectives, quality and overall effectiveness of education programs in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
We evaluated each school on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
When deciding where to attend community college, you should consider your career and earning potential. In 2021, the top five highest paying careers for associate degree holders in Maryland were air traffic controllers, dental hygienists, engineering technicians, funeral home managers, and aerospace engineering technicians.
Maryland job-seekers with an associate degree should examine fields that tend to have high employment rates. Occupations expected to have the most job openings in the next decade are preschool teachers, paralegal and legal assistants, computer network support specialists, radiologic technicians, and physical therapy assistants.
When reviewing potential career paths, associate degree holders should also take into account which fields are expected to see a decline in the employment rate. In Maryland, the jobs that are projected to undergo a decline include desktop publishers, funeral home managers, morticians, and nuclear technicians.
While researching community colleges, you should consider which financial aid opportunities are available to you. This list describes some of the federal and state resources that can connect associate degree students with grants, scholarships, loans, and financial aid opportunities in Maryland.