The 25 Most Desirable Rural Schools

St. Mary’s College of Maryland offers a public liberal arts education and is the state’s only public honors college, a designation that promises an intellectually inclusive community. First founded as an all-girls boarding school in 1840, the school officially became a four-year institution of higher learning in 1964.

The school has just over 1,994 undergraduates, and a student-to-faculty ratio of 11 to 1. Women make up roughly 56 percent of the population and 85 percent of students live on campus. The school proudly claims a fifth of its students are first-generation college students.  A 319-acre waterfront campus 75 miles from Washington, D.C., St. Mary’s College of Maryland is among Newsweek’s 25 most desirable rural schools.

Tuition at St. Mary’s College of Maryland is $23,174 for Maryland residents and $34,567 for out-of-state students, with 82 percent of students receiving financial aid.