University Partnership Program
At Friends School, students don’t have to wait until college to engage in collegiate-level work. Through the University Partnership Program (UPP), they collaborate with professors, researchers, physicians, and other experts from leading colleges and universities, applying classroom learning to authentic research and real-world challenges.
Launched in 2011 as the first program of its kind in the Baltimore metro area, UPP has connected hundreds of Friends students with thought leaders in fields ranging from neuroscience and engineering to political science, history, medicine, and the arts.
Friends believes that collaboration of this kind—applying classroom skills and knowledge to real-world problem-solving— inspires students to think deeply and prepares them for success. It also fosters an enduring passion for learning, which is critically important to their development as students and as people.
Building on Friends School’s exceptional college-preparatory program, UPP now includes direct admission partnerships with The Catholic University of America, Earlham College, Goucher College, Guilford College, Loyola University Maryland, McDaniel College, Stevenson University, and Washington College. Students in good academic standing are eligible for direct admission and, at all partner institutions except Guilford College, guaranteed merit scholarships.
At Friends, education fulfills its promise when preparation meets opportunity, and these partnerships are one way the school helps students move confidently toward what comes next.
This article is part of our 2026-2027 Guide to Baltimore Independent Schools
