Education

Maryland Has Best Community College System in The Country, Per Study

By MCS Staff
Montgomery College Germantown Campus, courtesy @DronifyDMV

With a year of community college nearly three times less expensive than a year at a public four-year college, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on 2025’s Best & Worst Community Colleges, coupled with its state-by-state ranking of the Best & Worst Community-College Systems, and Maryland came in ranked as the state with the “Best Community College System” in the country.

To determine where students can receive the best education at the cheapest rates, WalletHub compared more than 650 community colleges across 18 key indicators of cost and quality. The data set ranges from the cost of in-state tuition and fees to student-faculty ratio to graduation rate.
In addition to Maryland being ranked 1st overall as a state, our very own Montgomery College came in ranked as the 17th best Community College in the entire country. Montgomery College has three campuses here in Montgomery County. Founded in 1946, it began as an evening college at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, serving an initial class of 186 students. The college expanded over the years, acquiring its first campus in Takoma Park/Silver Spring in 1950, followed by the Rockville Campus in 1965 and the Germantown Campus in 1978.

Today, Montgomery College is a multi-campus institution that serves tens of thousands of students annually through a combination of credit and noncredit continuing education programs. It is known for its academic programs in liberal arts, sciences, business, and technologies. The college is an open-access institution, providing a wide range of academic programs, career training, and lifelong learning opportunities to the residents and businesses of Montgomery County at a moderate cost.

Top 20 Community Colleges
1. State Technical College of Missouri (MO) 11. Moreno Valley College (CA)
2. Manhattan Area Technical College (KS) 12. Irvine Valley College (CA)
3. Pratt Community College (KS) 13. Mitchell Technical College (SD)
4. Woodland Community College (CA) 14. Gogebic Community College (MI)
5. De Anza College (CA) 15. Colby Community College (KS)
6. College of San Mateo (CA) 16. Kellogg Community College (MI)
7. Santa Fe Community College (NM) 17. Montgomery College (MD)
8. Saddleback College (CA) 18. Norco College (CA)
9. Santa Rosa Junior College (CA) 19. Southeast New Mexico College (NM)
10. Alexandria Technical & Community College (MN) 20. Clackamas Community College (OR)
States with the Best Community-College Systems
1. Maryland 11. Hawaii
2. New Mexico 12. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin 13. Colorado
4. North Dakota 14. Connecticut
5. Washington 15. Michigan
6. Oregon 16. Iowa
7. South Dakota 17. Tennessee
8. Wyoming 18. California
9. New Hampshire 19. Massachusetts
10. Kansas 20. New York

To read the full reports, please visit: