UMGC officials defend marketing spending and use of fund balance as auditors flag HIDA transparency issues

University of Maryland Global Campus officials told the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee in Annapolis that the institution is investing fund balance and marketing dollars to grow enrollments and revenue even as state support tightens and an audit flagged governance problems at the university's affiliated HIDA entities.

Kelly Norton, a budget analyst who presented the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) review, told legislators that UMGC’s total undergraduate enrollment for fall 2024 reached 52,187 and that unrestricted E&G expenditures have exceeded revenues in five of the last seven fiscal years. Norton said the E&G deficit for fiscal 2025 is expected to be $17,500,000 and noted that, “as a nontraditional university, UMGC lacks” auxiliary revenue sources such as residential halls and food services that other campuses use to cover shortfalls.

The enrollment and revenue context is central to the university’s marketing strategy, Norton said. She reported that UMGC has spent approximately $326,000,000 of a Board of Public Works authorization for up to $500,000,000 in advertising from fiscal 2019 onward, and that UMGC contends the campaign has produced average annual enrollment gains of roughly…