University of Maryland

The University of Maryland, College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland, Maryland, UM, UMD, or UMCP) is a public research university 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 of Maryland is the flagship institution 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. It is a member of the Association of American Universities and competes athletically as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

The University of Maryland's proximity to the nation's capital has resulted in strong research partnerships 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), 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 US$1.531 billion. 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. As of May 11, 2012, the university's "Great Expectations" campaign had exceeded $950 million in private donations.

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 became part of the existing University of Maryland, replacing St. John's College, Annapolis as the University's undergraduate campus. 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.

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.

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. Like many colleges during the Vietnam War, the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by the National Guard.

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 5 campuses in the former network were designated as formally 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.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".   

Admittance to the University of Maryland has become highly selective. According to the US News and World Report, Maryland is rated "more selective" with a 46.9 percent acceptance rate in Fall 2013. The university regularly receives about 28,000 applications a year for a freshman class of 4,000, along with 6,500 transfer applications for 2,000 available transfer spots.The incoming class for Fall 2015 has a middle 50% SAT of 1260–1420, ACT of 29-33, and average GPA of 4.22. The incoming freshman class has a strong A-/B+ or better average in all coursework with many courses being honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate courses. The incoming Fall 2015 admitted transfer profile has a 3.38 GPA.the fall semester priority application deadline for freshman students is November 1 and transfer students is March 1. The fall semester regular deadline for freshman and transfer students is January 20. December 1 is the priority deadline for freshman students who wish to apply for the spring semester while August 1 is the priority deadline for transfer students who wish to apply for the spring semester.

There are two main residential areas on campus, North Campus and South Campus, which are further divided into a total of seven residential communities. North Campus is made up of Cambridge Community (which consists of five residence halls), Denton Community (which currently consists of four halls, including Oakland hall which opened in the fall semester of 2011), and Ellicott Community (consisting of three halls). South Campus includes the North Hill Community, made up of nine Georgian-style halls located immediately west of McKeldin Mall, South Hill Community, made up of fourteen small residence halls for upperclassmen, Leonardtown Community, which offers apartment-style living and is further divided into Old Leonardtown (consisting of six buildings) and New Leonardtown (also consisting of six buildings), the South Campus Commons Community, which consists of seven apartment-style buildings (the seventh and most recent building being opened in January 2010), and the Courtyards, a garden style apartment community in north campus consisting of seven buildings. The South Campus Commons Community and Courtyards, while built on campus, are managed by a private company, Capstone On-Campus Management, as part of a public-private partnership between the company and the University of Maryland.

The university does not have family housing. As of 2011 some students with families have advocated for the addition of family housing.residential life is overseen by the Department of Resident Life, which consists of a hierarchical structure of staff members and many individual departments. For instance, Resident assistants, who are full-time undergraduates facilitating the student interaction and development of floors within their assigned floor, building, or community, are supervised by Resident directors. The Department of Resident Life offers its residents and other students many programs, including the Math Success Program, Academic Success Program, Common Ground Dialogue Program, and many Living and Learning programs.