Contact: Elyse Ashburn Director of Communications eashburn@umbc.edu 410-455-2065 September 12, 2012 – The University of Maryland, Baltimore County has been recognized again as a national leader in innovation and undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide. For the fourth year in a row, UMBC tops the U.S. News ranking of “Up-and-Coming” national universities – a designation recognizing institutions that consistently find innovative ways to improve students’ educational experiences. We share the top spot with George Mason University. U.S. News also ranks UMBC eighth on a list of the top national universities “where the faculty has an unusual commitment to undergraduate teaching.” UMBC is tied with Duke University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame. “We are delighted to be recognized as one of America’s most innovative universities and a national leader in undergraduate education,” says President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. “As Americans consider the costs and value of a college degree, this recognition is a reminder that public universities can be exceptional.” This year, for example, UMBC is launching a competition that will encourage faculty to re-imagine what it means to teach and learn; challenge students to take an active role in their educations; fuel creativity and entrepreneurship; and transform classrooms into laboratories of the mind. The work will be supported by grants from the new Hrabowski Fund for Innovation and will build on our longstanding commitment to combining the best of research and teaching. The University’s selection as a leader in undergraduate teaching and as the top innovator is based on survey responses from higher education leaders across the nation. A more complete methodology and the full rankings are available from U.S. News. To learn more about UMBC’s innovative programs, please visit www.umbc.edu/bestcolleges.