Bowie State University

Teachers College Bowie State University is the oldest historically black university in Maryland . [ 3 ] It was founded in 1865 by the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People as a teaching school. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The school first used space at the African Baptist Church at Calvert Street and Saratoga Street, in Baltimore , Maryland. [ 5 ] In 1867, a dedicated facility was purchased nearby at Saratoga Street and Courtland Street, and the school was formally named the Baltimore Normal School for Colored Teachers . [ 4 ] [ 6 ] After being reorganized in 1883 as the Baltimore Normal School , it educated African Americans to be teachers for African American students until 1908. [ 5 ] At that time, the school became a state institution of teaching under the Maryland State Department of Education and was redesignated as a Normal School No. 3 . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Shortly thereafter, in 1910, the school moved to the Jericho Farm, a 187-acre campus in Prince George's County. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] About 60 students lived in the old farmhouse. [ 3 ] The school was renamed in 1914 as the Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] A two-year professional degree was added in 1925, a three-year program in 1931, a four-year program for elementary school teachers in 1935, a four-year program for junior high school teachers in 1951, and a four-year program for secondary school teachers in 1961. [ 4 ] In recognition of its principal role, the school was renamed in 1935 as Maryland Teachers College at Bowie . [ 4 ]

In 1963, Bowie State College was officially named a liberal arts school – with additional majors in English, history, and social science – although emphasis remained on teacher education. [ 4 ] A Master's degree in education was added in 1969. [ 4 ] The school was renamed Bowie State University in 1988, as a member of the University System of Maryland . [ 4 ] In the subsequent decades, Bowie continued to expand, especially in professional and Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] In 1992, it became the first HBCU to expand overseas, with graduate programs for military personnel stationed abroad. [ 1 ] By 2017, the school offered 20+ undergraduate majors and 30+ advanced degrees or certificate programs. [ 4 ] Bowie State University was ranked #61 in the United States and was #1 in the State of Maryland for alumni earnings above expectation according to The Economist magazine's first-ever rating of colleges in America, which was released in October 2015. [ 7 ] They used a statistical estimate for each college based exclusively on factors such as average SAT scores, sex ratio, race breakdown, college size, whether a university was public or private, and the mix of subjects students chose to study. [ 7 ] In 2020, MacKenzie Scott donated $25 million to Bowie State which is the second largest single gift in Bowie State's history. In 2025, she donated an additional $50 million which is the largest single gift in Bowie State's history. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]

BSU has 29 undergraduate majors, 20 master's programs, 3 doctoral programs, and 20 certificate programs in disciplines as diverse as computer science, education, human resource development, organizational communication, and nursing. [ 10 ] In partnership with the University of Maryland University College , it became the first historically black university to include overseas studies. It was also the first university in the nation to offer a bachelor's degree in pedology . [ 11 ] The university is home to The Maryland Center, [ 12 ] a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 providing community services. In partnership with the federal General Services Administration , the campus hosts the Bowie State University Telecommuting Center. [ 13 ] Bowie State University offers an honors program for academically talented and ambitious undergraduate students. [ 14 ] The Bowie State torch These academic programs are offered in four colleges: [ 15 ] College of Arts and Sciences College of Business College of Education College of Professional Studies

This article needs to be updated . ( March 2018 ) The Center for Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Nursing Gateway and sign Martin Luther King Jr. Communications Art Center Aerial view of the campus The campus comprises 23 buildings with more than 988,897 square feet (92,000 m 2 ) of space. It is located in Bowie, Maryland , between the metropolitan areas of Baltimore (25 miles) and Washington, D.C. (17 miles). An on-campus MARC Train station and Metrobus stops provide access to local transit. There are Wi-Fi and public computer labs across campus for student use. [ 16 ] Twenty-three percent of students live on campus in seven residence halls. Campus events include cultural performances, lectures, and sporting events. The oldest building still in use is Harriet Tubman Hall, built in 1921. The 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m 2 ) Student Union Building, which replaced the old Wiseman Center, was inaugurated in 2013. [ 17 ] Other recent improvements to the campus have been the $71 million Fine & Performing Arts Center, with 123,000 square feet for art, music, dance, visual communication and digital media arts, and theater programs, [ 18 ] replacing the former Martin Luther King, Jr., Arts Center. The $17.6 million Center for Business and Graduate Studies houses the College of Business, Graduate School, Graduate Admissions Office, the BSU Entrepreneurship Academy, and the Bowie Business Innovation Center, the first business accelerator to open at a Maryland HBCU. [ 19 ] Other facilities include the Christa McAuliffe Residential Community (CMRC) apartments, the Computer Science Building, a facility serving the computer science and computer technology programs, and the $6.5 million Center for Learning Technology (CLT), serving the College of Professional Studies. On campus, the Bowie State Satellite Operations Control Center (BSOCC) is an orbiting satellite operation and control center allowing students to gain hands-on experience. In 2003, the center went fully operational.