The University of Maryland University College is an American public university
located in Adelphi in Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States.
UMUC offers classes and programs on campus in its Academic Center in Largo,
and at satellite campuses across the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area,
throughout Maryland, as well as in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
UMUC serves over 90,000 students worldwide and is one of the largest
distance learning institutions in the world. UMUC is open to all applicants
with a 100 percent acceptance rate for undergraduate programs. The university
offers 120 academic programs in instructor-led and online classes,
including bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees as well as
undergraduate and graduate certificates. UMUC is a member of the University
System of Maryland, which includes eleven separate public universities in
Maryland. History
UMUC is an outgrowth of the evening program for adults at the University of
Maryland that began in the 1920s. In 1947, the College of Special and
Continuation Studies was established. In 1959, The CSCS became the University of
Maryland University College. In 1970, UMUC became an independent institution,
and it became a member of the University System of Maryland in 1988.
UMUC formerly had an international campus in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
until 2001. It also ran a 2-year residential campus in Munich, Germany
from 1950 to 1992, which then moved to Augsburg, Germany from 1993 to 1994, and
then to Mannheim, Germany in 1995 until it finally closed in 2005. The
residential campus offered a two-year Associate degree and mainly served high
school graduate children of U.S. military and government personnel
stationed in Europe. UMUC offers courses on over 130 military
installations at locations throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as
in Asia. In 2004, UMUC shared the ICDE Prize of Excellence from the
International Council for Open and Distance Education. In FY 2007, UMUC
offered onsite classes in 22 countries throughout the world, enrolling 16,908
and 21,554 individual students, respectively, through its Asia and
Europe divisions, including the Middle East.
= University name = UMUC is a college in the traditional
American sense of the word, albeit one associated with a university—hence,
"University College." The "University of Maryland" prefix indicates the
historical entity to which the college belonged originally. In the university's
name, "University College" represents "the specialized concentration on
professional development," while "University of Maryland" represents the
affiliation of the university with the University System of Maryland. To
American ears, the words "university" and "college" may sound synonymous, and
"University College" would be redundant in its name. Among the collegiate
universities of Europe, however, the practice of giving one college in the
university the name "University College" is not uncommon. In England, for
example, one of the 39 colleges of the University of Oxford is called
University College, Oxford as well as University College London, part of the
University of London. When UMUC first opened in 1947, the
school was named College of Special and Continuation Studies to distinguish it
as an institution independent from the University of Maryland, College Park. In
1953, Raymond Ehrensberger, chancellor of the institution at that time, wanted
to change the name to something more meaningful and less cumbersome for
people to say and remember. Early suggestions for the name included
College of General Studies, College of Adult Education and University College.
In 1959, Chancellor Ehrensberger persuaded the University System of
Maryland's Board of Regents to change the name to University of Maryland
University College. The name "University College" was adopted from the British
university system to depict an educational institution offering
"courses and programs from all academic departments outside the university's
walls and normal class times." Therefore, UMUC is not a division of the
University of Maryland, College Park, but rather a separate institution within
the University System of Maryland. Academic and degree programs
UMUC is one of the largest providers of distance education in the United States.
Courses are delivered in traditional classroom settings, as well as online.
Even before the advent of online education by way of the World Wide Web,
UMUC was a distance education pioneer and offered distance learning using its
WebTycho interface by way of dial-up access. UMUC later adopted the use of
the Web for connectivity to its online classrooms, as well as using television
and correspondence courses to deliver course content.
= Colleges and schools = Undergraduate School
Graduate School Undergraduate
The Undergraduate School offers 32 bachelor's degree programs and 48
undergraduate certificates, which are awarded in business management,
computers/information technology, communications, criminal justice/legal
studies, and social sciences. Undergraduate students can earn credit
through classroom-based and online courses or through the Cooperative
Education and Prior Learning programs. The Undergraduate program serves as a
continuation of the Community Colleges of Maryland and elsewhere. The
Cooperative Education and Prior Learning programs offer an escalated degree
option for education and training completed in the workplace or military.
This program provides general education credits that can be applied towards a
degree at UMUC. Graduate
The Graduate School offers 18 master's degree programs, 38 graduate
certificates, and a Doctor of Management. Most graduate programs are
available in both classroom and online formats. Several master's degrees are
available in an accelerated Executive format.
Deployed Locations UMUC offers face-to-face courses and
support in Afghanistan and Djibouti, Africa. UMUC deploys both faculty
members and staff members to bases throughout Afghanistan and at Camp
Lemonnier in Djibouti to support military personnel on those bases. UMUC
has accompanied military personnel in downrange locations since the Army gave
them clearance in 2005. = Afghanistan =
Currently, UMUC offers courses and services at the four main Army Education
Centers, located in Bagram Air Field, Kabul, Salerno and Kandahar. Bagram Air
Field is the largest site in Afghanistan, with about 275 active
enrollments each session, and up to twenty face-to-face courses. All four
sites have collegiate professors and Field Representatives stationed on them
to assist soldiers, airmen, Marines, and sailors with UMUC's programs and
courses. Field Representatives, commonly referred
to as Field Reps, deploy with faculty members to help promote and facilitate
UMUC's program at each site. Field Reps assist students with enrollment, tuition
assistance, and textbook sales, as well as guidance and assistance with academic
goals and careers. The Field Rep is also responsible for the local program, to
include marketing and maintaining relationships with military personnel.
Faculty members assigned to a downrange location teach service members wherever
they may be. Classroom space is limited in Afghanistan, and faculty members
teach their classes anywhere they can, to include hangars, unit conference
rooms, dining facilities, even chapels and picnic benches. Faculty members,
known and referred to as instructors, also assist the Field Rep located where
they are in assisting students and promoting classes and programs.
= Djibouti = Classes are held at Camp Lemonnier on
the Naval base in Djibouti City. Classes are taught by on site faculty members
and can also be taught by military personnel who hold Master's or Doctoral
degrees and have prior teaching experience. A full-time UMUC faculty
member also serves as a counselor for students already enrolled in UMUC
programs, and to those military members who would like to take classes. Most
students at Lemonnier receive tuition assistance through military programs to
support higher education for its members.
Campus and facilities = Headquarters/main campus =
The headquarters for UMUC is located in Adelphi, Maryland near the campus of the
University of Maryland, College Park. Until late 2000, the UMUC headquarters
was listed in College Park, Maryland. In an attempt to establish its own identity
as an independent university, UMUC changed its postal address to Adelphi,
an unincorporated community that borders College Park. The address change with
the U.S. Postal Service involved no physical move of people and facilities.
The marketing decision to change its postal address was one of many
undertaken by UMUC to distinguish the university as one of the largest
distance-education centers, with over 90,000 students enrolled worldwide.
= Academic buildings = Academic Center at Largo
Student & Faculty Services Center College Park Marriott
UMUC purchased for $38 million its new headquarters building in Largo,
Maryland, which was once the headquarters site for Hechinger and
corporate offices of Raytheon. UMUC retrofitted its new headquarters to meet
"green" building requirements for LEED certification. UMUC followed the same
process as it did to achieve LEED certification in 2005 for its Inn &
Conference Center, which became the first hotel complex in the United States
to achieve certification as a green building.
UMUC began relocating its academic departments and offices to its new
Academic Center at Largo in September 2009, and completed the process in 2010.
UMUC began offering on campus classes at its new Academic Center in the Spring
2010 semester. = Satellite campuses =
UMUC operates satellite campuses across the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan
Area, throughout Maryland, as well as in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area In the greater Baltimore-Washington
Metropolitan Area, daytime, evening and weekend classes are held at 21
locations, including holding many of its classes at the University of Maryland,
College Park campus. The satellite campuses offer varying academic
services, including advising, computing, and library facilities.
UMUC operates a facility in Dorsey, Maryland adjacent to the Dorsey MARC
Train Station. In partnership with Maryland community colleges and other
University System of Maryland institutions, UMUC offers courses and
degree programs at several higher education centers throughout the state.
In conjunction with the College of Southern Maryland, it operates the
Waldorf Center for Higher Education in Waldorf, Maryland. A consortium of
universities led by Anne Arundel Community College, including UMUC,
operates a higher education center adjacent to Arundel Mills mall in
Hanover, Maryland. In addition, the University offers courses at the
Universities at Shady Grove and University System of Maryland at
Hagerstown, which are part of the University System of Maryland.
Global locations In Europe, the Middle East, and Asia,
UMUC offers courses on military bases for service members, contractors,
Federal employees, and their families. In addition to distance learning via the
Web, the university offers on-site, instructor-led classes at 130 overseas
US military bases in 22 countries throughout the world. Overseas
instruction is coordinated through its European Division, which covers
USCENTCOM installations in the Middle East, and Asian Divisions. UMUC
divisional headquarters are located in Kaiserslautern, Germany and on Yokota
Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, respectively. Student profile
UMUC specializes in distance learning for adult, non-traditional students in
Maryland, across the country, and around the world by operating satellite
campuses and offering online instruction. The university educates
50,000 active-duty service members at over 130 military installations. In FY
2009, more than 30,000 Marylanders attended UMUC. The USM Board of Regents
predicts UMUC's enrollment will increase 48% by 2018.
About three quarters of the undergraduate students attend part-time.
Over ninety-two percent of UMUC students are employed full-time. The majority of
undergraduate students are female. The median age of stateside undergraduate
students is 31. Almost two-thirds of the graduate MBA students are married, half
are female, and over a third are minorities. Over a third of UMUC's
stateside students were African-American, and this minority
group earned over a third of the degrees awarded by the university.
Awards UMUC was ranked #1 in The Military Times
“Best for Vets: Colleges 2015” list of top online and nontraditional schools.
Military Times “Best for Vets” is one of the most respected and comprehensive
rankings for veterans who are considering higher education. The
publication looked at U.S. Department of Education statistics on student success
and academic quality, as well as areas such as university culture, student
support, and academic policies in evaluating hundreds of schools.
tp:bestforvets.militarytimes.comcolleges In 2011, UMUC received the Institution
Award from the Council of College and Military Educators, a not-for-profit
organization founded to promote, encourage and deliver quality education
to servicemembers and their families in all branches of the U.S. armed services.
The Institution Award is given to a college or university that supplies
quality education programs to the armed services. CCME selected UMUC due to its
dedication, leadership and numerous accomplishments in providing quality,
voluntary off-duty education programs. Notable alumni
= Academia = = Arts and entertainment =
= Business = = Government and public policy =
= Literature = = Sports =
= Notable students = Notable faculty
References External links
Official Website UMUC Profile