by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege of Southern Maryland is a public institution in La Plata, Maryland enrolling 4,512 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 33%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,241 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 24%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
College of Southern Maryland ranks #1,241 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 24%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
College of Southern Maryland was awarded 97 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked CSM as #1,241 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
CSM is also ranked #23 on the Best Colleges in Maryland list.
See all of the rankings for College of Southern Maryland.
Learn more about College of Southern Maryland admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at College of Southern Maryland is about average at 16 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at College of Southern Maryland is 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at College of Southern Maryland is 66%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
When it comes to finishing their studies on time, those seeking a bachelor’s degree from CSM have a four-year graduation rate of 33%. This is comparable to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at College of Southern Maryland.
In the current academic year, there are 4,512 undergraduates at CSM.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at College of Southern Maryland.
The average net price of CSM is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,798 | $5,287 | $7,895 | $10,120 | $12,180 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of CSM, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At CSM, approximately 46% of students took out student loans averaging $6,832 a year. That adds up to $27,328 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 8.1%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for College of Southern Maryland.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from College of Southern Maryland make around $44,435 per year during the early years of their employment. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at College of Southern Maryland make the most money.
College of Southern Maryland is an public institution found in La Plata, Maryland. Students who love country life may enjoy the rural location of CSM. Get more details about the location of College of Southern Maryland.
Contact information for College of Southern Maryland are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 8730 Mitchell Rd, La Plata, MD 20646-0910 |
| Phone: | 3019342251 |
| Website: | www.csmd.edu/ |
In the latest year of available data, students from 18 majors graduated from College of Southern Maryland. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 2,434 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 1,518 | $25,903 |
| Business Administration & Management | 191 | NA |
| Information Technology | 119 | NA |
| Nursing | 99 | $57,691 |
| Computer Information Systems | 69 | NA |
| Accounting | 67 | NA |
| Business & Commerce | 46 | $33,332 |
| General Engineering | 29 | NA |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 29 | NA |
3,734 students took at least one online class at College of Southern Maryland.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at College of Southern Maryland.
Want to see how other colleges compare to CSM? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.