USM reports modest enrollment growth but flags retention and funding strains
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Summary
University System of Maryland analysts told a legislative subcommittee that systemwide undergraduate enrollment rose modestly but, excluding the online global campus, several institutions remain below pre‑pandemic levels; officials pointed to financial aid, targeted recruitment and early intervention as central to retention.
Sarah Baker, an analyst for the Education, Business and Administration Subcommittee, told legislators the University System of Maryland (USM) saw overall undergraduate enrollment rise 3.1% to just over 136,000 students, but that figure masks variation across institutions. "When excluding the global campus, enrollment grew 2.3% to 81,632," Baker said, and several regional campuses continue to trail pre‑pandemic levels.
Chancellor Jay Perman said the system recorded strong milestones — including a systemwide enrollment of about 175,700 students and a record 45,000 degrees awarded last year — while cautioning that demographic shifts in high‑school graduation rates pose ongoing risks. "We're the chief supplier," Perman said, describing USM as the state’s primary source of the educated workforce.
Officials and staff identified uneven recovery across campuses: nine institutions had enrollment increases while others, including Bowie State, showed the largest declines in students not returning. International graduate enrollment also fell sharply, which staff partly attributed to a UMBC admissions strategy change and broader federal policy pressure on post‑completion work authorization.
Committee analysts and USM officials emphasized financial aid as a retention lever. USM reported total institutional aid of about $265 million last year, including $107 million in need‑based assistance. Perman and staff said first‑time students who received any university aid persisted to a second year at 85% versus 74% for those without aid; six‑year graduation rates for aided first‑time students were 67% compared with 53% for unaided peers.
Speakers described strategies to bolster enrollment and completion: targeted outreach to Hispanic learners and rural students, expanded transfer pathways and technology (including the statewide transfer platform Artsys), early‑alert advising and micro‑grants to address urgent financial shortfalls that can precipitate withdrawal. Staff said federal rulemaking on gainful‑employment reporting is ongoing, and USM is beginning to collect related employment outcomes data.
Next steps noted for the committee included follow‑up reporting on regional center enrollments and additional details about graduate employment outcomes as federal rules and data collection efforts mature.