The University of Maryland's location has resulted in strong research partnerships, especially with the Federal government. Many 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) and the Department of Homeland Security.
As of fiscal year 2009, the University of Maryland, College Park's operating budget was projected to be approximately $1.531 billion. The University has also raised more than $600 million in private donations in its recent "Great Expectations" campaign.
History
On March 6, 1856, the forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC). Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert, a descendant of the Barons Baltimore and a future U.S. Congressman, purchased 420 acres (1.7 km²) of the Riverdale Plantation in College Park for $21,000. Calvert founded the school later that year with money earned by the sale of stock certificates. On October 6, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College, including four of Charles Calvert's sons, George, Charles, William and Eugene. The keynote speaker on opening day was Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
In July 1862, the same month that the MAC awarded its first degrees, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act. The legislation provided federal funds to schools that taught agriculture or engineering, or provided military training. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the school became a land grant college in February 1864 after the Maryland legislature voted to approve the Morrill Act.
The state took complete control of the school in 1916, and consequently the institution was renamed Maryland State College. Also that year, the first female students enrolled at the school. On April 9, 1920, the college merged with the established professional schools in Baltimore to form the University of Maryland. The graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees, and the University's enrollment reached 500 students in the same year. In 1925 the University was elected to the Association of American Universities.
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. 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. Since then, academic standards at the school have steadily risen. Recognizing the improvement in academics, 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.
In a massive 1988 restructuring of the state higher education system, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University System of Maryland and was formally named University of Maryland, College Park. 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.
Research
In October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (607,030 m²) in an ambitious attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C., Capital Beltway, known as "M Square." The university completed construction on a new Bioscience Research Building on campus in May 2007. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is presently constructing the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction on site in M Square. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2009.
The University of Maryland's location near Washington, D.C. has created strong research partnerships, especially with government agencies. Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Security Agency. These relationships have created numerous research opportunities for the university including:
- taking the lead in the nationwide research initiative into the transmission and prevention of human and avian influenza
- creating a new research center to study the behavioral and social foundations of terrorism with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
launching the joint NASA-University of Maryland Deep Impact spacecraft in early January 2005. - The University of Maryland Libraries provide access to and assistance in the use of the scholarly information resources required to meet the education, research and service missions of the University.
- The Center for American Politics and Citizenship provides citizens and policy-makers with research on critical issues related to the United States' political institutions, processes, and policies. CAPC is a non-partisan, non-profit research institution within the Department of Government and Politics in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
- The Space Systems Laboratory researches human-robotic interaction for astronautics applications, and includes the only neutral buoyancy facility at a university.
- The Center for Technology and Systems Management (CTSM) has the mission to advance the state of the art of technology and systems analysis for the benefit of people and the environment. The focus has been always on enhancing safety, efficiency and effectiveness by performing reliability, risk, uncertainty or decision analysis studies.
Academic Reputation
The University's academic reputation has increased in recent decades, as evidenced in many surveys. It is ranked 53rd in the latest 2008 U.S. News and World Report rankings of "National Universities" across the globe, and it is ranked 10th nationally among public universities. 29 undergraduate and graduate programs are ranked in the top 10 and 90 programs are in the top 25.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Maryland as 37th in the world as well as 8th among public flagship universities in the United States. Newsweek ranked the University of Maryland as 45th in their ranking "global universities." Webometrics, a leading web collegiate ranking site, ranked Maryland 19th on its "Top 4000 Universities" list. Times Higher Education ranked the University of Maryland 79th on its top 100 universities in the world.
Schools and Colleges
The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in 13 different colleges and schools, which include:
College of Arts and Humanities
School of Music
College of Education
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
College of Chemical and Life Sciences Robert H. Smith School of Business
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
A. James Clark School of Engineering
College of Information Studies
School of Public Policy
School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
School of Public Health
University of Maryland was ranked 122 in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
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