Which school is stronger for undergraduate computer science: the University of Maryland or Brown?

For a student prioritizing the breadth of the undergraduate CS program and access to a large technical employer network, the University of Maryland has the edge. Maryland’s computer science department is substantially larger, offers a wider array of upper-level pathways, and sits near the Washington, D.C., technology, cybersecurity, federal research, and startup ecosystem. Brown offers an excellent CS education, but its particular advantage is a more flexible, intimate liberal-arts environment rather than Maryland’s scale and professional reach.

At Maryland, students can explore a deep menu of courses and research across areas such as AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, systems, programming languages, data science, robotics, and human-computer interaction. Its location in College Park also creates unusually direct connections to agencies, contractors, research labs, and technology employers around D.C. This can be especially valuable for students interested in security, public-interest technology, government-adjacent computing, or internships during the academic year.

Brown’s Open Curriculum is a meaningful differentiator for students who want to combine CS seriously with fields such as mathematics, cognitive science, economics, design, linguistics, or the arts without a heavy core curriculum outside the concentration. Brown’s smaller setting can make it easier to build close relationships with professors and pursue interdisciplinary work, and its CS program is particularly appealing for a student who values theoretical foundations and intellectual freedom alongside computing.

One practical consideration: Maryland’s CS program is large and popular, so some introductory or high-demand courses can feel more crowded and require careful planning. Brown will likely offer a more personal day-to-day academic experience, while Maryland provides a denser CS-specific ecosystem and more extensive local technical recruiting.