UMUC keeps tuition affordable

Adelphi, MD (Map, News) - Susan Aldridge took over as president of the University of Maryland University College in February 2006. Previously, she worked as the vice chancellor of Troy University College in Alabama, where she helped expand the school’s international presence with satellite campuses in Ecuador, Germany, Malaysia and Vietnam. Aldridge earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado Women’s College, and a doctorate and master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado.

Q You started your presidency about a 18 months ago — what have been some of your biggest challenges?

A Like most of the universities in Maryland, we struggle with limited funding from the state and with the caps on tuition. That really has hurt us financially. [Keeping tuition affordable] is absolutely critical to us. If you take the in-state tuition rate combined with fees, we have the second-lowest tuition rate in the University System of Maryland. It is great value for the students.

Q The Maryland Higher Education Commission is predicting that part-time students at public colleges will outnumber full-time students in a decade. How does UMUC play into that?

A We’ve spent 60 years focusing on the unique educational challenges of working professionals. We have 90,000 students worldwide and expect to continue to grow exponentially over time. We have 127 teaching locations in 24 countries. We have about 27 locations here in Maryland. In the last five years, the number of students taking courses in an online format has increased more than 200 percent. What we are seeing is a group of students who want to enhance their credentials by coming back for graduate school.

Q How do you cater to the working professional?

A About 90 percent of our students are employed on a full-time basis, so we really cater to the working professional. We have to ensure that students are able to get all the support services they would normally get on a traditional campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our whole enrollment process is online. We use toll-free telephone numbers are well as completely automated services. We have 24-7 technical support for our faculty and students. We have online orientation programs. We literally spend millions of dollars a year on our extensive library databases so that our students around the world have access to one of the finest library systems that they will find in the world. All the supports systems, from financial aid to transfer evaluation, we have to make available to our students online.

Q How many UMUC classes have an online component?

A All 20 of our master’s degrees are available fully online. Twenty-one of out 29 bachelor’s degrees are available completely online and 58 of our certificate plans are available online. We have over 700 individuals courses that are available completely online. What our students do primarily is take some courses in class and some courses online. Most of our face-to-face classes have components that are also online. We utilize the design, stimulation models, the streaming video and audio ,and a lot of really rich, robust additions in our online courses.

Q What makes UMUC different from other online institutions?

A Of course it’s being part of a state system that is well-respected across the United States. The students who are graduates from our universities will always be able to be proud of this degree and will not be caught in a position where corporations will not accept or recognize a degree when it comes form us.

Q How qualified are the faculty at UMUC?

A We have very highly qualified faculty. If they are teaching online for us, they can live just about anywhere they want to live in the world. I think we have faculty in 40 different countries. All the faculty, whether they teach in class or online, must meet the highest level of accreditation standards for teaching.

Q How are you working to meet Maryland’s work force shortages?

A We have all the security areas — whether it’s homeland security or fire sciences, for example. We have established degree programs in health care management. We have some bio-tech courses that we are running. What we try to do is determine what the traditional campuses in Maryland are able to provide, and then we view ourselves as the campus that is able to fill in the geographic areas and to serve some of those working professionals and students.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

» Elizabeth Bobo, House of Delegates and former Howard County chief executive

» Frank Boston Jr., House of Delegates, Baltimore City

» Mark Huston, chief operating officer, BG&E

» Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker

» Thomas Hutchins, former House of Delegates and former superintendent, Maryland State Police

» Robert Neall, former state senator and former Anne Arundel County chief executive

» Edward Perkins, former ambassador to Australia, Liberia, South Africa and United Nations

» James Robey, former Howard County chief executive

» Howard Ruddell, vice president, Lockheed Martin Corp.

» Joseph Tydings, former U.S. senator from Maryland; partner in D.C. law firm

» Lt. Gen. Emmett Paige, former assistant secretary of defense

» Gen. John Vessey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

FAST FACTS

» Founded: 1947

» Main campus: Adelphi

» Enrollment: 90,000 students worldwide, the 12th largest degree-granting university in the United States. Enrolls close to 60,000 active duty military, reserves, dependents and veterans.

» Tuition for one year for part-time student: $4,230 (in state)

Source: University of Maryland University College

mmcilroy@baltimoreexaminer.com

The Examiner is taking an indepth look at colleges and universities across Maryland. Click here to read the entire series.

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