College Park, long-time top dog as the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland, has always boasted the most sprawling facilities, most name recognition and the largest student body. In a few years, however, Towson University’s undergraduate population is expected to equal this campus’s as the school prepares to admit record numbers of students.
With this shift in demographics comes a shift in state funding as Towson absorbs much of the brunt of what experts refer to as the “baby boom echo,” which is expected to peak in 2008 and 2009. Towson and the state struck a deal – more state money for taking more students – which officials say will spill over into increased funding for new facilities and much-needed renovation.
The original baby boom came after World War II, when hundreds of thousands of American soldiers returned home, married and started families. The population explosion – comprising those born from 1946 to 1964 – forced schools at all levels to scramble to accommodate the wave of students. The “echo” children of the first boomers began hitting college-age in the greatest numbers in 2005, realizing a trend for which the state has been preparing for almost a decade, said university President Dan Mote.
Towson plans to admit an additional 1,000 new students each year for the next three years, eventually bringing its current 18,000 student population to 25,000 by 2012. The trend has already begun, said Lonnie McNew, senior associate vice president for enrollment management at Towson. The school admitted 400 more freshmen last year than it normally does.
McNew said Towson is an ideal candidate to absorb the glut of new students. Unlike smaller system school Frostburg University, landlocked by other development, Towson owns nearly 360 acres of empty land it has been unable to put to use due to lack of funds.
Because Towson is classified as a comprehensive university, not a research school like the College Park campus – meaning it enrolls a relatively small number of graduate students seeking masters degrees, offers few doctoral programs and focuses solely on educating students, not conducting research – it makes the most sense for the state to direct students there, McNew said.
“From the state’s point of view, a school like Towson can grow and educate Maryland residents for a lot less than a research institution,” he said. “Our mission is mainly teaching. We can maintain quality with a lot less funding for students.”
Part of Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich’s $117 million in state system funding increases for higher education will go toward increasing Towson’s annual expenditure from $4,300 per student to $5,000. To accommodate the new students, Towson plans to add 600 beds per year starting this year. A renovation to the arts facilities that has been in the works for nearly 13 years will receive the necessary funds to be completed. In addition, the school, which has not seen any new construction in 30 years, plans to build a new liberal arts center, McNew said.
Towson’s growth does not challenge this university’s position as the flagship campus. Towson has no plans to convert to a research institution, and this university will still receive almost 40 percent of the state’s higher education budget, said Joe Vivona, vice chancellor for administrative finance for the University System of Maryland. This campus will not admit many more students in reaction to the baby boom echo, Mote said, keeping the total student population about 35,000.
Contact reporter Kate Campbell at campbelldbk@gmail.com.
