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Pillar 01

Grow

Grow Student Opportunity and Success

We will provide equitable access to a UMBC education and seek the success of every UMBC student. In pursuing these ambitions, we will serve more learners from Baltimore and from across the state, and we will boldly redefine student success and UMBC’s role as a bridge to lifelong thriving.

Three students sit at an outdoor table with laptops, talking and smiling.

Our Goals and Commitments

GOAL 1:

Expand equitable access and advance our mission as a public institution in Maryland by growing the student body strategically and serving more students from Baltimore and throughout Maryland

Our Commitments

  • We will build and expand pathways to UMBC, strengthening partnerships with public schools, community colleges, and other institutions, creating clearer routes to credentials, undergraduate and graduate degrees, and lifelong learning.
  • We will address financial, housing, administrative, and other barriers to access that stand between students and a UMBC education.
  • We will grow with purpose, creating a comprehensive enrollment strategy across bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and non-degree programs.
GOAL 2:

Foster belonging, well-being, and holistic thriving by strengthening coordination among student-centered programs and supports and addressing barriers to success

Our Commitments

  • We will create a coordinated student experience, connecting academic support and advising, basic needs, mental health, engagement, and other services to ensure a continuity of care and connection.
  • We will know our students and meet their needs early, using data, technology, and meaningful relationships to enable informed decision making and provide personalized support.
  • We will invest in welcoming, well-maintained, accessible, and safe campus environments and experiences that anticipate students’ needs, strengthen belonging, and foster well-being.
GOAL 3:

Support academic development and career readiness for every UMBC learner and reimagine our work as preparing graduates for lifelong success and engagement in a global community

Our Commitment

Embodied in a new Retriever Promise initiative, we will boldly redefine student success, articulating and focusing on delivering a set of opportunities, experiences, and outcomes that every UMBC student can expect. We will take the best of UMBC’s signature educational opportunities and scale their impact for all students. We will ensure that all UMBC learners have equitable access to meaningful, high-impact experiences, and that students leave UMBC equipped with the capacities, perspectives, and practices to navigate and thrive in a changing world.

BOLD
MOVES

Across five key strategic pillars focused on student opportunity and success; teaching and learning; research and creative achievement; organizational innovation and vitality; and Maryland and its communities, UMBC will make bold moves.