The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. With a fall 2018 enrollment of 13,767 students, 48 undergraduate majors, over 60 graduate programs (36 master, 24 doctoral, and 17 graduate certificate programs) and the first university research park in Maryland. Established as a part of the University of Maryland System in 1966, the university became the first public collegiate institution in Maryland to be inclusive to all races. UMBC has the fourth highest enrollment of the University System of Maryland, specializing in natural sciences and engineering, as well as programs in the liberal arts and social sciences.
The planning of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was first discussed in the 1950s due to the post-World War II baby boom, the expansion of higher education under the GI Bill, and the large amount of growth both in population and industry in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.In 1965, Albin Owings Kuhn, an accomplished administrator and professor at College Park was named Vice President of Baltimore Campuses, including both UMBC and the founding campus, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
As an Honors University, the campus offers academically talented students a strong undergraduate liberal arts foundation that prepares them for graduate and professional study, entry into the workforce, and community service and leadership. UMBC emphasizes science, engineering, information technology, human services and public policy at the graduate level.
1000 Hilltop Cir
Baltimore, MD 21250
- UMBC has been honored as one of the top ten universities in the nation for both teaching and innovation by the U.S. News and World Report.
- UMBC is featured among 242 U.S. institutions in the 2019 Best Global Universities Rankings, which includes 1,250 institutions from around the world.
- UMBC has been recognized as one of the top universities in the nation through Princeton Review’s popular undergraduate guide, The Best 384 Colleges.
- UMBC is regionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
- UMBC is authorized by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), the State Licensing Authority, to confer degrees.
- Several of UMBC’s programs have gained specialized accreditation.
- UMBC’s most popular majors include: Biological and Biomedical Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services; Psychology; Social Sciences; and Engineering
