The ('''USM''') is a
Public Corporation and
Charter School system comprising 13
Maryland institutions of
Higher Education . It is the 12th-largest university system in the
United States . In
1988 , it was created from the merger of the five University of Maryland institutions and the six members of the State University and College System of Maryland under the name '''University of Maryland System'''. In
1997 , its name was changed to the University System of Maryland. In
1999 , the
Maryland General Assembly transformed the system to the charter model.
The merger creating the University of Maryland System was directed by
Governor William Donald Schaefer and was overseen by University of Maryland President
John S. Toll , who then became the system's first Chancellor.
When USM was originally formed in 1988, Maryland's other two state-funded (''i.e.'', public) 4-year institutions (
Baltimore 's
Morgan State University and
Southern Maryland 's
St. Mary's College Of Maryland ) opted out of the system and made separate funding arrangements with the state.
The
Virginia-Maryland Regional College Of Veterinary Medicine , although state-supported, remained outside the system because of its unique status as an institution jointly funded by Maryland and
Virginia . It is a constituent of both the College Park campus and
Virginia Tech , with its main campus at Virginia Tech.
The USM institutions with the words "University of Maryland" in their names are not satellite campuses of the
University Of Maryland, College Park , and are not referred to as such.
