BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Maryland universities are climbing the ranks, according to a new list of top colleges.

Monique Griego has more what local schools are being praised for.

U.S. News and World Report just released its latest college rankings and several Maryland schools are receiving top honors, including the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), which is once again being touted as the most up-and-coming in the country.

“Just learning here, they make it so much easier and it’s fantastic,” UMBC student Sola Odukale said.

“It’s been a great experience. The teachers are top notch. Really good education,” Scott Jones, a student at UMBC, said.

Dr. Diane Lee is the dean of undergraduate education at UMBC. She says the ranking tells her the school is on the right track.

“If we are innovative and leading the way in how to teach so that students succeed, that’s a big deal for us,” she said.

The up-and-coming list ranks schools that are making promising and innovative changes in the areas of faculty academics and student life.

“We definitely think we’re leading the way,” Lee said. “It is by trying new things, taking some risks, looking at previous practices and saying how can we improve.”

Other Maryland schools taking top spots were the U.S. Naval Academy which ranked as the best public liberal arts college in the country for the second year in a row.

And Johns Hopkins University was the state’s top overall performer coming in 13 among national universities.

And while in the overall rankings UMBC still has a ways to go, students believe the future is bright.

“Hopefully, one day we’ll be up there in the top schools,” Odukale said. ”That’s our goal. That’s what everyone here is striving for.”

UMBC’s President Freeman Hrabowski was named by Time magazine as one of the 10 best college presidents in the country.

For all the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, click here.