University of Maryland Global Campus history

UMGC was founded in 1947 as the College of Special and Continuation Studies, a branch of the University of Maryland's College of Education, with locations in College Park and around the state.

Beginning in 1949, UMGC was the first university to send faculty overseas to educate active-duty military personnel in Europe.

In 1953, Raymond Ehrensberger, chancellor of the institution at that time, wanted to change the name to something more meaningful and less cumbersome for people to say and remember.

In 1959, Chancellor Ehrensberger persuaded the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents to change the name to University of Maryland University College.

University of Maryland Global Campus has cultivated and grown its permanent art collections since 1978.

UMUC formerly had an international campus in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, (near Stuttgart), until 2002.

In 2004, UMUC shared the ICDE Prize of Excellence from the International Council for Open and Distance Education.

In 2008 UMUC offered courses on over 130 military installations at locations throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as in Asia.

In FY 2015, UMGC offered on-site classes in 20 countries throughout the world, enrolling almost 11,000 students, in Asia and Europe.

Also, in March 2018, three UMGC administrators won the Parchment Awards of Excellence for work they did to reinvent the college transcript.

In 2019, the university announced that its name would change to "University of Maryland Global Campus" accompanied by a half-billion dollar national marketing campaign to expand the school's global outreach.

In 2020, 116 history majors received their bachelor's degree from UMGC.