University of Maryland, College Park
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"University of Maryland" redirects here. For the Washington Metro station, see College Park–University of Maryland (WMATA station). For the University of Maryland's Schools of Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Social Work, see University of Maryland, Baltimore. For other uses, see University of Maryland (disambiguation).
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Former names
| Maryland Agricultural College (1856–1916) Maryland State College (1916–1920)[1] |
|---|---|
| Motto | Fatti maschii, parole femine(Italian), unofficial[2] |
Motto in English
| Strong deeds, gentle words |
| Type | Flagship public university Land-grant Sea-grant Space-grant |
| Established | 1856 |
| Endowment | $283.123 million (2015)[3] |
| President | Wallace Loh[4] |
| Provost | Mary Ann Rankin |
Academic staff
| 4,509 (Fall 2015)[5] |
Administrative staff
| 5,315 (Fall 2015)[5] |
| Students | 38,140 (Fall 2015) |
| Undergraduates | 27,443 (Fall 2015)[6] |
| Postgraduates | 10,697 (Fall 2015)[7] |
| Location | College Park, Maryland, U.S. 38°59′17″N76°56′41″W |
| Campus | Suburban, 1,250 acres (5.1 km2)[8] |
| Newspaper | The Diamondback |
| Colors | Red, gold, black, white[9] |
| Athletics | NCAA Division I – Big Ten MAISA |
| Nickname | Terrapins, Terps |
| Mascot | Testudo |
| Affiliations | University System of Maryland AAU Fields Institute BTAA CUWMA APLU ORAU URA Universitas 21 The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs |
| Website | www |
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The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, Maryland, UM, UMD, UMCP, or College Park) is a public research university[10] located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1856, the university is the flagshipinstitution of the University System of Maryland. With a fall 2010 enrollment of more than 37,000 students, over 100 undergraduate majors, and 120 graduate programs, Maryland is the largest university in the state and the largest in the Washington Metropolitan Area.[8][11] It is a member of the Association of American Universities and competes in athletics as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
The University of Maryland's proximity to the nation's capital has resulted in research partnerships with the Federal government. Members of the faculty receive research funding and institutional support from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Homeland Security.[citation needed]
The operating budget of the University of Maryland during the 2009 fiscal year was projected to be approximately $1.531 billion.[12] For the same fiscal year, the University of Maryland received a total of $518 million in research funding, surpassing its 2008 mark by $118 million.[13] As of May 11, 2012, the university's "Great Expectations" campaign had exceeded $950 million in private donations.[14]
Contents
[hide]History[edit]
Main article: History of the University of Maryland, College Park
Early history[edit]
On March 6, 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College. Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert, a future U.S. Congressman, purchased 420 acres (1.7 km2) of the Riverdale Plantation in College Park. Calvert founded the school later that year. On October 5, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College.[1] The school became a land grant college in February 1864.[1]
Bankruptcy and revival[edit]
During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers under Brigadier General Bradley Tyler Johnson moved past the college on July 12, 1864 as part of Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C.[15] By the end of the war, financial problems forced the administrators to sell off 200 acres (81 ha) of land, and the continuing decline in enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. For the next two years the campus was used as a boys preparatory school.[1] Following the Civil War, in February 1866 the Maryland legislature assumed half ownership of the school. The college thus became in part a state institution. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In the next six years, enrollment grew and the school's debt was paid off. In 1873, Samuel Jones, a former Confederate Major General, became president of the college.
Twenty years later, the federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. During the same period, state laws granted the college regulatory powers in several areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the board of forestry.[1] Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year.[1]
The Great Fire of 1912[edit]
On November 29, 1912, a fire destroyed the barracks where the students were housed, all the school's records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. There were no injuries or fatalities, and all but two students returned to the university and insisted on classes continuing.[1] Students were housed by families in neighboring towns until housing could be rebuilt, although a new administration building was not built until the 1940s.[1] A large brick and concrete compass inlaid in the ground designates the former center of campus as it existed in 1912.
Modern history[edit]
The state took control of the school in 1916, and the institution was renamed Maryland State College. That year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college became part of the existing University of Maryland, replacing St. John's College, Annapolis as the University's undergraduate campus.[16][17] In the same year, the graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first PhD degrees and the university's enrollment reached 500 students. In 1925 the university was accredited by the Association of American Universities.[1]
By the time the first black students enrolled at the university in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. Prior to 1951, many black students in Maryland were enrolled at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.[18]
In 1957 President Wilson H. Elkins made a push to increase academic standards at the University. His efforts resulted in the creation of one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year the plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion.
Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at the university in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities. The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679.[1] Like many colleges during the Vietnam War, the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by the National Guard.[19]
In a massive 1988 restructuring of the state higher education system, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University of Maryland System (later changed to the University System of Maryland in 1997) and was formally named University of Maryland, College Park. All of the five campuses in the former network were designated as distinct campuses in the new system. However, in 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park, to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus' role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland.[20]
The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park. The University of Maryland, Baltimore, is the only other school permitted to confer certain degrees from the "University of Maryland".
21st century[edit]
In 2004, the university began constructing the 150-acre (61 ha) "M Square Research Park," which includes facilities affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, and the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, affiliated with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[21] In May 2010, ground was broken on a new $128-million, 158,068-square-foot (14,685.0 m2) Physical Science Complex, including an advanced quantum science laboratory.[22]
Wallace Loh became President of the University in 2010.[4]
Academics[edit]
Profile[edit]
The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in thirteen colleges and schools:
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Undergraduate education is centered on both a student's chosen academic program and the selection of core coursework to fulfill general education requirements.[23] For Spring 2010, the average undergraduate GPA for women was 3.22 and 3.05 for undergraduate men.[24]
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