Getting To Know: Loyola-Maryland-Again
This past fall , thanks to the Baltimore Collegetown Network, I got to take my second visit to Loyola -Maryland. A Jesuit university with around 3,800 undergraduates, Loyola-Maryland combines the breadth of a larger school with the more personalized approach of a smaller one. Notable Loyola-Maryland alumni include author Tom Clancy, Emmy-Award winning sportscaster Jim McKay, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, and journalist Mark Bowden, among many others.. I’ve updated my Loyola-Maryland Pinterest page, and invite you to listen to a Loyola-Maryland profile on The College Tour, then read on!
Loyola-Maryland is a Jesuit university.
Jesuit education, while not formulaic, includes the distribution requirements common at other colleges and universities as well as coursework in philosophy and theology. These schools do not require a course in Catholicism. In fact, they are quite welcoming to other faiths and offer religious instruction in them. But it helps to be willing to at least discuss a religious identity. Loyola-Maryland is 60 percent Catholic. So, it’s likely most arrive knowing that they want the Jesuit education, and have possibly had prior exposure to it. I have come to like the Jesuit approach to undergraduate education. It encourages students to think on their own, understand ethics, and develop their own world views.
Jesuit education also goes beyond the classroom into community service and leadership development, invaluable training for life. However, required courses comprise nearly half of the credits necessary to earn a Bachelor’s degree, more than at many other public or private schools.
Outside of the core, Loyola-Maryland offers many pre-professional majors offered by larger universities.
Loyola-Maryland does it with fewer hassles at choosing an academic direction, or switching directions, if necessary. This school does not force incoming freshmen to choose either a school or a major when they apply as well as when they first enroll. It is fairly easy for a student to double major in two liberal arts (including Engineering) subjects or a liberal arts major and a business program (except for Accounting). The university is adding programs in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies and and Forensic Science.
There is considerable depth in the business and education programs, as much as you’ll find at public and private universities that have thousands more students, and Loyola-Maryland does not cap students out of these programs as larger schools do. Collectively, the business programs represent about 40 percent of Loyola-Maryland’s undergraduate population. The university offers a five-year Bachelors-Masters program in Accounting; the State of Maryland requires 150 credits of business and liberal arts education for CPAs. There is also an accelerated path called Emerging Leaders to a more traditional MBA. Loyola-Maryland is one of the few schools that has its business and accounting programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Those who consider this school have a sense of what they want from a college.
Loyola-Maryland is considered versus other Jesuit schools in the Mid-Atlantic states, notably Fordham, Saint Joseph’s (PA) and the University of Scranton (PA). The setting reminded me more of Boston College and Fairfield University (CT) being on the outskirts of a city versus inside the center city itself. Interested students also consider other Catholic colleges including Providence, Sacred Heart and Villanova. Nearly two-thirds of Loyola-Maryland’s undergraduate student body comes from out of state. The school draws well from the Mid-Atlantic and New England states.
Admissions are not ultra-selective.
Acceptance rates have beed no lower than 75 percent since 2017. However, the yield rate, the percentage of accepted students who deposit hit the low point (12%) for the Class of 2024. The size of the freshman class has fluctuated though the current class had fewer than 1,000 students. Most recently, 76 percent of the current class did not submit ACT or SAT scores.
My sense from viewing this data is that Loyola-Maryland may be an equal choice versus comparably selective schools like Saint Joseph’s or Scranton, but also a second choice versus schools such as Fordham or Villanova.
Loyola-Maryland has done a very good job at graduating their students.
Loyola-Maryland’s four-year graduation rate has slipped a little bit but it’s still quite good. Seventy-seven percent of students in the Class of 2019, the last year before the great pandemic, graduated on time. The pandemic did not impact the next two classes. Seventy-five percent of their members graduated on time. However, the four-year graduation rates for the Classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 dropped steadily from 73 to 70 to 69 percent.
But there’s good news ahead. Freshman retention has gone up for future classes. It was 85 percent for the Class of 2025, 86 percent for the Class of 2026 and 87 percent for the Class of 2027. The graduation rates should rebound as well.
Loyola-Maryland makes some nice efforts at affordability.
The direct charges (tuition, fees, room and board) are nearly $78,000. However, almost every one receives a merit or need-based scholarship. For the Class of 2027 the average need-based award covered over three-quarters of tuition and fees. The average merit-based award covered over half. These awards are easy to keep; recipients need to maintain only a 2.0 GPA.
While Loyola-Maryland is unlikely to undercut Home State U for most students, it can be less expensive than many state schools charge their non-resident students. This is especially important for New Jersey’s college-bound students; a majority opt to leave the Garden State.
However, this school may be expensive for some.
While Loyola-Maryland has generous scholarships, the school, on average, met 83 percent of need for incoming freshmen in the Class of 2027. Sixty-four percent of the graduates in the Class of 2023 had tp take out loan. Thes debts averaged over $38,000. Just under a fifth of the class had to take out private loans.
Loyola-Maryland has a very attractive campus.
I have visited several Jesuit universities. Loyola-Maryland has one of the nicest campuses that I have seen among them. The campus is very easy to navigate and convenient to downtown Baltimore by bus. Campus planners worked well to complement the newer buildings with the older ones. Loyola-Maryland houses over three quarters of its undergrads. There are neither fraternities nor sororities.
While this school has plenty of clubs and student organizations, it is also more service oriented than most other colleges that you will visit. Loyola-Maryland also bonds around successful men’s and women’s lacrosse programs as well as men’s soccer. The men’s lacrosse program was D-1 National Champions in 2012. Baseball fans will like that the Baltimore Orioles have a night for Loyola students and alumni every season.
Conclusions
Loyola University-Maryland does what a “good” school should do for a “very good” or “excellent” student: help to set and test an academic direction and provide a network for life. But the costs have to work out for a cost-conscious family.
The Report Card for Loyola University-Maryland
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: B+/A
- Freshman Retention: B+
- Costs: B
- Comforts: A
- Community: A
- Curriculum: A
- Connections: A (Mid-Atlantic States)/B+ (Boston & California)/C (elsewhere)
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