Founded as one of the nation’s first independent, coeducational institutions of higher learning, McDaniel College’s evolution is characterized by academic excellence, extraordinary administrative and faculty dedication and resourcefulness, and increasing student selectivity and diversity. And yet, throughout its history, McDaniel College has remained committed to expanding accessibility and opportunity to first-generation college students. Situated on a scenic hilltop in Westminster, Maryland, its ideal location is just a short distance from the nation’s capital and Baltimore provides a warm, friendly campus community with boundless opportunities for global learning and engagement.
Our Mission
McDaniel College is a diverse, student-centered community committed to excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies. With careful mentoring and attention to the individual, McDaniel changes lives. We challenge students to develop their unique potentials with reason, imagination, and human concern. Through flexible academic programs, collaborative and experiential learning, and global engagement, McDaniel prepares students for successful lives of leadership, service, and social responsibility.
Our First Principles
We strive to place students at the center of a humane environment so that they may see and work toward their personal goals while respecting others and sharing the responsibility for the common good. McDaniel College believes that liberally educated men and women think and act critically, creatively, and humanely. They take charge of their lives and develop their unique potentials with reason, imagination, and human concern. They take their place in the global community, understanding their responsibilities to aid individuals and to contribute to the larger society. McDaniel College accepts the challenge to provide an academic and social environment that promotes liberal learning.
In the classrooms, in the residence halls, in the laboratories, on the playing fields, and in the lounges, McDaniel College works to live out these First Principles to support our vision of our college community.
- We provide a foundation of knowledge about the past and present so that students may be informed about the world.
- We provide various approaches to knowledge and personal achievement so that students can think critically about, respond creatively to, and form sensitive, intelligent decisions concerning the world and its future.
- We provide instruction in fundamental skills so that students can express themselves for their own satisfaction and to the larger community.
- We provide solid and respected professional programs for the committed student, and, more important, we provide a liberal arts education as an integral part of professional training so that students will be more flexible, more successful, and happier in the world of work.
