University of Maryland Eastern Shore

This section needs additional citations for verification . ( December 2025 ) UMES is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund The University of Maryland Eastern Shore has been known by a series of names reflective of its location, evolving role, and mission over a period spanning three centuries. It opened September 13, 1886, under the auspices of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church . Benjamin and Portia Bird welcomed nine students that first day to a converted farmhouse on 16 acres. The school was at first envisioned as a preparatory school for the private Centenary Biblical Institute in Baltimore, which was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1890 it changed its name to Morgan College to honor the first chairman of its board of trustees; and is now the public Morgan State University . By the end of the first academic year, 37 students were enrolled in the Delaware Conference Academy in Princess Anne. Because of segregation in the state, African-American students could not enroll in the Maryland Agriculture College in College Park, which offered advanced instruction in farming techniques and related trades commonplace in the late 19th century. Congress enacted the Second Morrill Act of 1890 , which required states to establish colleges for African-American students in order to gain or continue to receive land-grant funds. The state of Maryland formalized a partnership with Morgan to underwrite " land-grant " education for African-Americans on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore. By the turn of the 20th century, the school was known widely as Princess Anne Academy , although in some circles it was informally referred to as Morgan's "industrial branch." The public-private partnership between the state and Morgan inspired another alternative name, at least according to state government archives: the Eastern Shore Branch of Maryland Agriculture College .

In the midst of the Great Depression, Maryland courts directed the state to admit qualified African-American applicants to its publicly funded law school in Baltimore. Historians believe this ruling led the state to convert Princess Anne Academy to a public institution. Fifty years after opening, the school formally passed from church control to state ownership with the first of four $25,000 installment payments – just as it was developing as a baccalaureate degree-granting college. Maryland's public flagship campus in College Park was designated its administrative agency. In 1948, the Eastern Shore Branch of the University of Maryland , then alternately known as Princess Anne College, was renamed Maryland State College , a division of the University of Maryland. Maryland State College became the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on July 1, 1970. Today it is one of 12 University System of Maryland public institutions of higher education. In addition to 745 acres on its main campus in Princess Anne, UMES also operates a 385-acre research farm in southern Somerset County, and the Paul S. Sarbanes Coastal Ecology Center on eight acres near Assateague Island in neighboring Worcester County. UMES offers instruction in 37 undergraduate areas of study, as well as 15 master's degree and 8 doctoral degree programs; 27 are accredited. In 2020, MacKenzie Scott donated $20 million to UMES. In 2025, she donated an additional $38 million, the largest single gift in the university's history. [ 4 ]

The university comprises five schools: School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences School of Education, Social Sciences, and the Arts School of Business and Technology School of Pharmacy and Health Professions School of Graduate Studies

More information Race and ethnicity, Total ... Student body composition as of Fall 2023 Race and ethnicity [ 5 ] Total Black 78% White 8% Two or more races 5% Hispanic 4% International student 3% Asian 1% Unknown 1% Economic diversity Low-income [ a ] 53% Affluent [ b ] 47% Close