The University originated in College Park in 1859 as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC), and was one of many colleges to receive federal funds as a land grant college shortly thereafter. In 1916 the institution became known as the Maryland State College. In 1920 the college merged with the already established professional schools in Baltimore to form the University of Maryland. In 1988 the school was formally named University of Maryland, College Park and designated as the flagship campus of the newly-formed University System of Maryland. The university is currently headed by president C. Daniel Mote, Jr..

Name and structural changes

In 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus's role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. For further information, please see the University of Maryland's own publication in regards to the naming issue in their "Identity Guide"  (PDF format).

The other University System of Maryland institutions with the name "University of Maryland" are not satellite campuses of the University of Maryland, College Park, and are not refered to as such. For the above historical reasons, the University of Maryland, Baltimore is also sometimes called "University of Maryland." This is not a significant point of confusion, as UMB is limited to graduate professional education.