The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

with campuses in Hughesville,

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

Leonardtown Leonardtown is a town in and the county seat of St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,563 at the 2020 census. Leonardtown is perhaps most famous for the national oyster-shucking championship that is held annually at the ...

, and Prince Frederick,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It serves students living in

Southern Maryland Southern Maryland is a geographical, cultural and historic region in Maryland composed of the state's southernmost counties on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. According to the state of Maryland, the region includes all of Calvert, Cha ...

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, St. Mary's, and Calvert counties.

History

In September 1958, the predecessor to today's CSM, Charles County Junior College, began evening classes at La Plata High School. In 1960, the college added an apprenticeship program. In 1968, Charles County Community College began construction of the ''Career Education and Administration Building'' on what is now the main CSM campus in

La Plata, Maryland La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Charles County. History According to an unconfirmed local story, the town was named by one Colonel Samuel Chapm ...

. On July 1, 2000, the college officially became the College of Southern Maryland. CSM celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2008 with events marking its history.

Academics

The College of Southern Maryland offers more than 120 programs of study including

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

Associate of Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

, and

Associate of Applied Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree programs. CSM has more than 60 guaranteed transfer agreements with four-year colleges and universities. Furthermore, CSM offers a wide range of

continuing education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...

certificates and career training programs such as computer programming and repair, truck driving, and nursing.

Accreditation

CSM is accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

. Its business, physical therapy, and nursing programs have specialized accreditation by

Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), formerly the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, is a U.S. organization offering accreditation services to business programs focused on teaching and learni ...

American Physical Therapy Association The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is a U.S-based individual membership professional organization representing more than 100,000 member physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy. The nonpro ...

, and

National League for Nursing The National League for Nursing (NLN) is a national organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nurse education. It offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives ...

, respectively.

Campus and training facilities

The Charles County facilities include the La Plata campus and a training center also in

. In conjunction with the

University of Maryland University College The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC, formerly University of Maryland University College) is a public university in Adelphi, Maryland. It is the largest of the University System of Maryland campuses. Established in 1947, UMGC focuses on ...

, CSM operates the Waldorf Center for Higher Education in Waldorf. The

St. Mary's County St. Mary's County may refer to: * St. Mary's County, Maryland *St. Mary's County, Utah Territory There are 29 counties in the U.S. state of Utah. There were originally seven counties established under the provisional State of Deseret in 1849: ...

campus is located in

and a training center is located in

Lexington Park Lexington Park was the name of a former minor league baseball park in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was the home of the St. Paul Saints from 1897 through 1956, when it was replaced by the first version of Midway Stadium. Lexington Park was commiss ...

. The

Calvert County Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...

campus is located in Prince Frederick.

La Plata campus

The original campus of CSM houses a

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

cafeteria A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school ...

conference center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

, a fine arts center with a 400-seat auditorium, a fitness center,

computer lab A computer lab is a space where computer services are provided to a defined community. These are typically public libraries and academic institutions. Generally, users must follow a certain user policy to retain access to the computers. This usu ...

oratories, and a

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

center. The Southern Maryland Studies Center, a regional archives repository and research center, is located in the CSM library.

Leonardtown campus

The Community College of

was established in 1978 at

Great Mills High School Great Mills High School is a comprehensive public high school in Great Mills, Maryland, United States. It serves students in grades 9–12 in the mixed rural and suburban area at the confluence of the Potomac River, Patuxent River, and Chesapeake ...

. The campus was moved to its current location in 1997, which includes four buildings—Buildings A, B, C, and D. The campus has an auditorium/seminar room, science labs, and a wellness center, which is available for student and community use.

Prince Frederick campus

The Community College at Calvert County, established in 1980, moved to its current location on J.W. Williams Road in Prince Frederick in 2005. The main building is a two-story, construction, which includes 15 classrooms, 6six

s, and a library. The B Building is a two-story construction, which includes student services, seven computer labs and classrooms, the newly expanded wellness center, the Nuclear Energy Training Center, and is the college's first LEED certified building with four green roofs.

Regional Hughesville campus

On February 27, 2013, the College of Southern Maryland announced it had purchased 74 acres in Hughesville to build another campus. The first phase was the construction of the Center for Trades and Energy Training (CTET). The second phase proposed for the campus includes a Center for Health Sciences. * There is also a smaller center for classes a few miles north in

Waldorf, Maryland Waldorf is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charles County, Maryland, United States. Located south-southeast of Washington, D.C., Waldorf is part of the Southern Maryland region. It is an urban area, with a populat ...

Intercollegiate sports

The College of Southern Maryland has six intercollegiate men's teams and six intercollegiate women's teams that compete in the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

, Division II The men's teams include basketball, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, tennis, golf, and cross-country. The women's teams include basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and cross-country.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Maryland Two-year colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in St. Mary's County, Maryland Community and junior colleges in Maryland Universities and colleges in Charles County, Maryland Educational institutions established in 1958 1958 establishments in Maryland Education in Calvert County, Maryland NJCAA athletics