Mount St. Mary’s University ranked in the top 10 percent on the newly released New York Times College-Access Index, which analyzed the country’s 286 most selective colleges and universities based on the percentage of full-time freshmen receiving Pell Grants, the federal grants awarded to students from low and moderate-income families. The Mount, ranked 28th, placed No. 1 in Maryland.
The College-Access Index showed the Mount enrolled 34 percent of first-year Pell Grant students in 2020-21 compared to the national average of 21 percent. Between 2011 and 2021, the Mount’s share of Pell students increased by 6 percentage points, while the overall average decreased by 2 percentage points. The Mount ranked 23rd in the country for the largest increase in Pell students.
“The New York Times study shows the economic diversity of the Mount student body among an elite group of colleges and universities. Our doors are open to students of all backgrounds, and our diversity is a valued part of the Mount experience,” said President Timothy E. Trainor, Ph.D. “The Mount has a long history of graduating ethical leaders who roll up their sleeves and excel academically before ultimately leading lives of significance in service to God and others.”
The College-Access Index measured economic diversity by analyzing the share of students receiving Pell Grants using data reported by universities to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. The list compared 286 of the most selective colleges in the country, defined by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges and other metrics.
This is one of several recent rankings received by Mount St. Mary’s, including several that measure value and social mobility. The university placed in the U.S. News & World Report rankings as among the top regional universities in the North, as well as a best value school, a top performer on social mobility and a best college for veterans.
The Mount also has been recognized as the sixth most beautiful college campus in the United States by College RoverTM, an online college information guide. The study looked at Yelp and TripAdvisor pages for the top 10 colleges in each state and then analyzed the number of reviews using the word “beautiful” and compared it to the total number of campus reviews. Sixty-six percent of the Mount’s reviewers mentioned the university’s beauty.