University of Maryland University College
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| University of Maryland University College |
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| Established: | 1947 |
| Type: | Public |
| President: | Susan C. Aldridge |
| Faculty: | 3,800 |
| Undergraduates: | 76,062 |
| Postgraduates: | 14,440 |
| Location: | Adelphi, Maryland, United States |
| Campus: | 35 locations |
| Affiliations: | ASAIHL |
| Website: | www.umuc.edu |
The University of Maryland University College (UMUC), located in the unincorporated community of Adelphi in Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States, is the second-largest university in Maryland and is the 12th largest degree-granting university in the United States. Serving over 90,000 students worldwide, the university has but one focus: the educational needs of the non-traditional students.
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[edit] History
UMUC is an outgrowth of the University of Maryland's evening program for adults that began in the 1920s. In 1947, the College of Special and Continuation Studies (CSCS) was established. In 1959, The CSCS became the University of Maryland University College (UMUC). In 1970, UMUC became an independent institution, but in 1988, it became a part of the University System of Maryland.
UMUC formerly had an international campus in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany (near Stuttgart) 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 Associates degree and served mainly high school graduate children of U.S. military and government personnel stationed in Europe. UMUC still continues to offer courses on military installations at over 70 locations throughout Europe, and the Middle East, as well as in Asia. In FY 2006, UMUC ’s overseas divisions offered on site classes in 24 countries throughout the world, enrolling 42,879 individual students in undergraduate and graduate programs.
[edit] Students
UMUC's non-traditional students include active duty service members (both stateside and overseas), working adults pursuing first or second degrees, students taking additional coursework in preparation for graduate school, and foreign students.
[edit] Academic programs
Courses are delivered in traditional classroom settings, as well as online. Even before the advent of online education via the Internet, UMUC was a distance education pioneer and offered distance learning via dial-up (using WebTycho) and via television and correspondence courses. Today, UMUC is one of the largest public providers of online higher education in the nation.
The School of Undergraduate Studies offers 23 bachelor's degree programs and 43 undergraduate certificates. 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.
The Cooperative Education and Prior Learning Programs offer an escalated degree option, accepted by UMUC as credit towards a degree at UMUC, but are not recognized by other 4 year institutions as accredited programs and as such are not transferable to other organizations.
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.
[edit] Facilities
UMUC has a campus in Adelphi, Maryland, near the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park, as well as facilities in Dorsey and Waldorf, Maryland. In Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., daytime, evening and weekend classes are held at 16 locations, including holding many of its classes at the University of Maryland, College Park. Some sites feature academic advising, computing, and library facilities (extensive library services are available to distance education students via the University's Information and Library Services department).
In Europe and Asia, UMUC delivers graduate and undergraduate classes on military sites for active-duty service members, government employees, and their families. The university is a global institution that offers on-site, instructor-led classes at over 110 overseas US military bases in 24 countries throughout the world through its European and Asian Divisions, including some USCENTCOM installations. UMUC administrative facilities are located on Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan and in Heidelberg, Germany near United States Army Garrison Heidelberg.
Until late 2000, UMUC's headquarters address was listed in College Park, Maryland. In an attempt to have its own identity and move away from the common notion of UMUC being the "Night School," its address was changed to Adelphi, Maryland (which borders College Park). The address changed with the Postal Service (there was no physical move). The marketing decision was just one of many to establish UMUC as one of the largest distance-education centers, with over 100,000 students enrolled worldwide.
[edit] Name
To American ears, the words "university" and "college" may sound synonymous, and a "University College" would be redundant. 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. 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 originally belonged. It is no longer affiliated directly with the University of Maryland, College Park but rather with the University System of Maryland.
[edit] External links
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