The University of Maryland at College Park grows from a local agricultural college founded in 1856, making it the second university to grow from agricultural roots after Michigan State, founded in 1855.
In 1947, Maryland responds to the influx of GI Bill students by creating the College of Special and Continuation Studies (CSCS) to provide educational opportunities for adult students. In 1949 the U.S. Defense Department asks universities to provide classes for service members overseas. Maryland is the first and only university to send professors to a military base in Germany to teach college courses to active duty soldiers. This program which soon expands to bases throughout Europe and later into Asia and the Middle East. It has often been said that “the sun never sets on the University of Maryland.”
In 1959 this global program is renamed as the University of Maryland University College and in 1970 becomes an independently accredited institution, becoming one of the 12 members institutions of the of the University of Maryland System located on campuses in Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore,
In 2019 the University College changes its name to University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGB) to better reflect its global mission. Today it serves some 100,000 students annually at more thant 175 locations across 20 countries, making it the largest institution in the University system,
The Global Campus is among the many firsts at the University of Maryland.
.
