Notre Dame University of Maryland, in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, has a mission to educate leaders to transform the world. The university was founded in 1835 by the School Sisters of Notre Dame as a women's college, and just enrolled its third coed class this year. It's currently about 80% female. Fun fact: it was the first Catholic college for women in the US to award a 4-year baccalaureate degree.

While they define themselves as a liberal arts college, they have a very strong education department, offering degrees all the way up to PhD. In fact, Notre Dame educates more teachers than any other private institution in Maryland. The nursing program is also excellent, with a 100% NCLEX pass rate, as well as approachable: students who have achieved above a C in science classes and above a 980 on the SAT are admissible for direct entry to the program. I'll note that the science center received a $4 million renovation a few years ago. The undergraduate art therapy program is nationally accredited, and the business program is also popular. There's also a 2+4 pharmacy program, and graduate programs in pharmacy, PT, OT, and PA Studies.

Notre Dame had the fastest growing enrollment in the state of Maryland last year, and it's also a very accessible institution: there's no application fee, the personal statement is optional, admissions decisions are rolling, and Notre Dame of Maryland is #1 for lowest net price among 4-year, bachelor's, private non-profit universities in Maryland. It's also been voted as a Best Value School as well as a Top Performer on Social Mobility by US News and World Report. Approximately 72% of students are non-white. The downside, and this is significant, is that the 4-year graduation rate is 45%.

The big news is that the university is in the process of acquiring the Maryland University of Integrative Health, which offers graduate programs in nutrition, herbal medicine, yoga therapy, cannabis science, and more. It will be exciting to see how this partnership evolves!