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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

with campuses in Hughesville,

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

, Leonardtown, and Prince Frederick,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. It serves students living in

Southern Maryland Southern Maryland, also referred to as SoMD, 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 incl ...

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 ''* ...

, 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 La Plata High School is part of the Charles County Public Schools and is located in La Plata, Maryland, United States. The current school was built in 1979. Before that, it was in the building (built in 1964) which now holds Milton M. Somers M ...

. 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, Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Charles County. History According to an unconfirmed loc ...

. On July 1, 2000, the college officially became the College of Southern Maryland.

Academics

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

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

Associate of Science Associate may refer to: Academics * Associate degree, a two-year educational degree in the United States, and some areas of Canada * Associate professor, an academic rank at a college or university * Technical associate or Senmonshi, a Japa ...

, and

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

degree programs. CSM has more than 300 transfer agreements with four-year colleges and universities. Furthermore, CSM offers a wide range of

continuing education Continuing education is the education undertaken after initial education for either personal or professional reasons. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada. Recognized forms of post-secondary learning activities within the d ...

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

Accreditation

CSM is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

. 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 United States–based organization offering accreditation services to business programs focused on te ...

American Physical Therapy Association The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is an American individual membership professional organization representing more than 100,000 member physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy. The nonpr ...

, 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 initiative ...

, respectively.

Campus and training facilities

The Charles County facilities include the La Plata Campus in

, the Regional Hughesville Campus in Hughesville, the Center for Transportation Training in Waldorf, and the Velocity Center at Indian Head. The St. Mary's County campus is located in Leonardtown. The

Calvert County Calvert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States 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 Baltimo ...

campus is located in Prince Frederick.

La Plata Campus

The La Plata Campus is home to 14 buildings and 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, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

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,

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 usua ...

oratories, a

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

center, a library, and a fitness 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 St. Mary's County 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, a fitness center and a pool, the latter two of which are 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, 6

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, concluded in 2023, included the construction of the 50,000-square-foot Center for Health Sciences, which includes specialized health sciences labs and classrooms.

Velocity Center at Indian Head

The Velocity Center at Indian Head, operated and managed by CSM, is a 13,000-square-foot facility located outside of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD). It includes classrooms, conference rooms, and a makerspace.

Intercollegiate sports

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

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

, Division II. The men's teams include baseball, basketball, soccer, and golf. The women's teams include basketball, soccer, softball, and volleyball.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 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 Universities and colleges established in 1958 1958 establishments in Maryland Education in Calvert County, Maryland NJCAA schools