McDaniel College

Private · Moderately Selective · MD

Photo: Patron Vectras (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationMD · South

SettingRural

Undergrads1,617

Student:faculty13:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate56.3%

6-yr grad rate63.3%

Drop-out rate24%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$52k

Out-of-state tuition$52k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity46.5%

Gender diversity55.8%

International0.6%

Identity—

Overview

McDaniel College, on a hilltop in Westminster, Maryland northwest of Baltimore, is a small private liberal-arts college with a long history of educating first-generation students, dating back to its founding as Western Maryland College. It has built its identity around personal attention and access rather than exclusivity.

Academics

The McDaniel Plan, the school's signature curriculum, asks students to build a concentration outside their major alongside their primary field of study, pushing them toward genuine breadth rather than a checklist of distribution requirements. Small classes are the norm across departments, and study abroad is a well-used option rather than a marketing line.

Campus & student life

McDaniel maintains a second campus in Budapest, Hungary, offering a full semester or year abroad that is genuinely integrated into the curriculum rather than a bolt-on study-abroad arrangement. On the Westminster campus, the hilltop setting and modest enrollment support a close-knit residential community.

Getting in

McDaniel reviews applications holistically, with real attention to first-generation and non-traditional backgrounds consistent with its historical mission, and essays or interviews can matter meaningfully in borderline decisions.

Worth knowing

The Budapest campus is the standout distinctive feature here — a genuine branch campus rather than a partner-program arrangement, and it shapes the college's international character well beyond what a school its size would typically offer.

mcdaniel.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate77.9%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying