LA PLATA — College of Southern Maryland students who plan to finish a bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County can now be enrolled at both schools from their first semester, under a dual admissions agreement the two institutions signed Nov. 5.
The agreement is aimed at the point where many community college students lose ground: the transfer itself. Eligible students who earn an associate degree at CSM can enter UMBC as juniors in a related field, with the potential to finish in two more years, CSM said in announcing the deal.
The terms CSM made public include:
- Dual enrollment: eligible students may enroll at both schools when they start college, with access to advising, resources and student activities on both campuses.
- Credits: general education credits earned at CSM apply to UMBC’s general education requirements, and up to 70 credits from a CSM degree program can count toward a related UMBC bachelor’s degree.
- Reverse transfer: students who leave for UMBC before graduating can apply eligible UMBC credits back toward a CSM associate degree.
- Scholarships: UMBC will offer $1,000 merit scholarships to up to five eligible students for each of their two years of full-time study.
The announcement repeatedly limits those benefits to “eligible” students but does not spell out who qualifies. It does not list a minimum grade point average, an application deadline, which majors are covered or when the first students can sign up. Admission to UMBC under the agreement should not be read as automatic; CSM directs students to its Transfer Services office for specifics.
The scholarship piece is also narrow. At five students, the awards will reach only a small share of the CSM students who transfer each year.
CSM President Yolanda Wilson said at the signing that the goal goes beyond moving students from one campus to another. The partnership, she said, is meant to help students “preserve their credits, time and money” on the way to a bachelor’s degree. UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby said the agreement tells students that the two campuses will work together to support them from an associate degree through a bachelor’s and beyond.
Leaders and faculty from both schools held working sessions after the ceremony on transfer pathways, student support and the systems needed to make sure credits carry over.
CSM is the public community college for Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, with campuses in La Plata, Leonardtown, Prince Frederick and Hughesville. UMBC is a public research university in Catonsville, in Baltimore County, roughly 60 miles from La Plata.
The deal follows other recent moves to smooth the path between Southern Maryland campuses and the state’s four-year and graduate programs. In September, St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Towson University set up a fast track into nine graduate programs.
