A WORLD-CLASS UNIVERSITY IS A MAGNET FOR TALENTED PEOPLE: TALENT ATTRACTS TALENT

Students

The University continues to be a magnet for many high-achieving students. This year the average grade point average for new freshmen was 3.9. Forty percent of entering freshmen scored higher than 1300 on the sat. Graduation rates across the board are at an all time high: 80 percent of students graduate in six years or less, moving our highly talented students into the Maryland economy. The one-year retention rate is 93 percent, a clear sign that talented students are quickly drawn into the University of Maryland’s dynamic environment, and stay.

The diversity of our student body is a great strength. Forty-three percent of entering students self-identified as “other than white” in 2007. The global economy draws on talent across race, ethnicity and nationality, and those who can work in a diverse environment have a competitive advantage. In a recent survey of 2007 graduates 80 percent reported that the University of Maryland’s diversity helped them “to understand perspectives different from [their] own.” Seventy-eight percent said that it helped them to “interact comfortably with people different from [themselves].” ²

The perspectives brought by talented international students strengthen academic programs and experiences of diversity. The University has more international students than any other higher education institution in the State. International students bring their cultures and languages, and contribute significantly to the economy. In FY07 international students across the State contributed $363.9 million (in tuition and fees) to the economy. ³

The University continues its commitment to making traditionally male-dominated fields accessible to qualified women. nasa completed a compliance review of the University of Maryland’s Department of Aerospace Engineering pursuant to Title IX and found the department to be “a model program for gender equity.” The report cited the University of Maryland’s “aggressive outreach and recruitment efforts” toward female students, and its success in “creating a welcoming and inclusive environment that values all students.” ⁴

The University of Maryland continues to win high marks in national and international measures of excellence. The rigor of academics and the creativity of special programs are cited as models. The quality of faculty and students, as well as the high impact of scholarship, are frequently noted. Although ranking systems have limitations, they do reflect perceptions about the University, and highlight much of our growth in academics and special programs.

In the most comprehensive international ranking today, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Top 500 ranks um 37th world-wide. In the London Times Higher Education Supplement list of the World’s Top 200 Universities Maryland ranked 79th among the world’s universities. Both ranking systems put Maryland in the Top 10 among U.S. public flagship universities.

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The University of Maryland was ranked in the Top 10 in Nanotechnology for the third time by Small Times, a key publication covering trends in nano- and microtechnology. It placed the University of Maryland #7 for research and #5 for education nationwide.

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The nation’s most talented minority students continue to be attracted to the University’s doctoral programs. Maryland is first nationally among universities listed as Top 25 Public Universities in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings for the number of degrees granted to African Americans.⁵ Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine ranked Maryland in the Top 20 for 2006–2007 for the number of minority doctoral graduates. The University was #16 for the number of doctoral degrees to all minority students, #13 for doctoral degrees to Asian Americans and #13 among traditionally white institutions for the number of doctoral degrees granted to African Americans.