University System of Maryland

University System of Maryland

Abbreviation	USM
Formation	1988
Type	Public education
Purpose	educational oversight
Headquarters	Adelphi, Maryland, United States
Region served	Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, Eastern Shore of Maryland, Western Maryland
Membership	12 universities, 2 regional higher education centers, and 1 research center
Chancellor	Robert L. Caret
Parent organization	Government of Maryland
Budget	$4.99 billion (FY 2014)
Staff	20,000
Website	http://www.usmd.edu/

The University System of Maryland (USM) is a public corporation and charter school system comprising 12 Maryland institutions of higher education. It is the 12th-largest university system in the United States, with over 125,000 undergraduate, 43,000 graduate and roughly 13,000 combined full-time and part-time faculty.

The system had its roots in 1963 when the Maryland General Assembly created the Board of Trustees of the State Colleges to assume control of five former state teachers colleges: Bowie State, Coppin State, Frostburg State, Salisbury State, and Towson State. Each campus had its own administrator. In 1970, the Maryland General Assembly established a five-campus University of Maryland network comprising the University of Maryland at Baltimore, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and the University of Maryland University College and was administered by former University of Maryland, College Park president Wilson Homer Elkins. Each member school was in turn administered by its own chancellor.

In 1975, the University of Baltimore joined the Board of Trustees of the State Colleges System as an upper-division institution.

In 1976, the Maryland General Assembly changed the name of the Board of Trustees of the State Colleges System to the State University and College System of Maryland.

In 1985, the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute was established.