The University of Maryland, College Park is a public research university, the flagship campus of the University System of Maryland, and the original 1862 land-grant institution in the State. It is one of only 62 members of the Association of American Universities, an organization composed of the leading research universities in the United States and Canada. The University of Maryland is committed to achieving excellence as the State’s primary center of research and graduate education and the institution of choice for undergraduate students of exceptional ability and promise.

The University creates and applies knowledge for the benefit of the economy and culture of the State, the region, the nation, and beyond. As the flagship of the University System of Maryland, the University shares its research, educational, cultural, and technological strengths with businesses, government, and other educational institutions. The University advances knowledge, provides outstanding and innovative instruction, and nourishes a climate of intellectual growth in a broad range of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary fields.

The University counts among its greatest strengths -- and a major component of its excellence -- the diversity of its faculty, students, and staff. The University of Maryland, College Park is committed to equal educational opportunity and strives to hire a diverse faculty and staff of exceptional achievement through affirmative actions, to celebrate diversity in all of its programs and activities, and to recruit and retain qualified graduate and undergraduate minority students.