Towson University – Towson, Maryland
Driving to campus I was pleasantly surprised to find that Towson was a big school but in a residential setting with grassy areas and trees. A brief walk away is Towson’s four-level mall and the Baltimore Inner Harbor is a quick drive as well. The campus has great athletic facilities for their Division 1 athletes with their new 5,000 seat Tiger Arena opening in May 2013 and Johnny Unitas Stadium. The renowned Tiger Marching Band has performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

There are 17 different residential offerings with a mixture of old and new, including Living Learning Communities like Tigers Serving Others, American Sign Language and STEM Scholars. Walking through campus, I saw students hop a fence to join a pick-up soccer game and the University Union was alive with Greek life.
Their forensic chemistry and e-business majors are the only programs of their kind in the state.

The College of Liberal Arts is housed in one of the newest buildings on campus and is a fascinating structure since 93% of the original building it replaced was recycled into the new structure making it the first to be LEED silver certified. The Counseling Center is brand new and a state-of-the-art library is under construction.

Based in the Administration Building, their Director of Disability Support, Susan Willemin, and Learning Specialist, Carol Milligan Muller, go beyond the call of duty to help students with learning differences.

Stevenson University – Owings Mills, Maryland
Website: http://www.stevenson.edu/

I didn’t know what to expect when I approached the Owings Mill Campus since it had been at least seven years since I last visited. A lot has changed. I saw gorgeous new residence halls and classroom buildings that are state-of-the-art including a working courtroom which the county uses for overflow court cases. They are known as a school that offers a liberal arts curriculum with a career focus. They call it “Career Architecture” versus vocational because there is a lot more practical experience. Most popular majors include Nursing, Deciding, Business Administration, Criminal Justice and Biology. Their Pre-Professional Studies Advising program is located 25 miles from Baltimore and provides the opportunity for internships and co-ops.

 
Stevenson is part of the Division 3, Middle Atlantic conference in athletics and has strong men’s lacrosse. They’ve just built a brand-new football stadium and have terrific facilities to support their athletes academically as well.

The Academic Success Center is very strong and has been run by Ms. Christine Flax for 18 years. This includes the PASS program where she oversees 100 mentors for students who need a bit of extra help academically in getting started at the university. Stevenson might be just the right place for the student who wants to get out and make a career in the world.

Salisbury University – Salisbury, Maryland
As soon as we drove on campus, I was taken with the charm of the brick buildings and loved the fact that we were only half an hour from the beach at Ocean City, Maryland.
No wonder Sammy the Seagull is their mascot, even though he is a bit fierce. He has to be since Salisbury is in Division 3 Athletics in the Capital Athletic Conference and Empire 8 Athletics for Football. The campus is set on a nationally recognized arboretum and impressively has opened three new cutting-edge academic buildings in the last decade: The Frank Perdue School of Business (yes the chicken folks all went to school here), the Henson School of Science and Technology and the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. I have to tell you the digital media equipment in the Fulton School of the Liberal Arts is just amazing as well and absolutely cutting edge!

Their residence hall options include a brand-new residence-retail complex called Seagull Square and many of their halls have programming and team-building activities initiated by their staff for the students. My lunch in the Commons of the Guerrieri University Center was the nicest dining hall experience I’ve had in a long time.

In terms of Admissions News, they have just added an Early Decisions option to Early Action and Regular Decision with a November 15th deadline, so if you are really interested in Salisbury, you can show them the “love” that way. For our out-of-state students, tuition, room and board is $26,714 which for me is an amazing deal for such a terrific school!

University of Mary Washington – Fredericksburg, Virginia
As I drove up, I was immediately attracted to the beautiful brick buildings and the huge pedestrian bridge with the university name that connected the campus to a brand-new mall/apartment complex nearby. I even stayed at the brand-new adjacent Hyatt Place. It was an amazing juxtaposition of the school, located in Fredericksburg with its 40 blocks of historic buildings and quaint downtown.

Once the sister school for the University of Virginia, the university is named for Mary Washington, the mother of George, the “Father of our Country.” Now home to 4,505 co-ed undergrads, it is located 50 miles midway between D.C. and Richmond and on the Amtrak train line making it easily accessible by public transportation, a real plus. The most popular majors are education, business, the sciences, psychology, and of course history. Historic Preservation and Museum Studies are some of the unusual things you can study here.

I was also impressed by their completely student-run Center for Honor, Leadership and Service that drives and implements the school’s serious Honor Code and its complementary programs. The Center for Teaching and Learning Technologies provides a unique opportunity for students to design and create their own professional websites that they take with them beyond UMW, where their stories, artwork or anything they have created can be displayed! Real world ready.

I liked the students here. They were friendly, thoughtful and had an eye to the future….and to a person, felt as if they had come out of their shells at the University of Mary Washington.