Maryland Higher Education Commission

Substantial Expansion/Major Modification
to Existing Programs 

 Steps

• An institution completes a proposal using guidelines in accordance with State regulations (see COMAR Title 13B.02.03 (PDF) for the full set of regulations).
   
• An institution submits the proposal to Secretary of Higher Education
   
  • Electronic Submissions (Preferred)
  • Hard Copy Submissions
     
• The Commission staff performs preliminary review of the proposal to ensure its completeness and adherence to regulations.
   
• The Secretary informs all institutions and segments of the proposal, triggering a 30-day comment period.  If so, the program is added to the website of academic programs currently under review.
   
• If no objections are received within 30 days, then the final decision is rendered within 30 days after the review/comment period.

The guidelines for institutions within the University System of Maryland (USM) are different from the guidelines for non-USM institutions.

• Guidelines for USM Institutions (PDF)
   
• Guidelines (excluding USM Institutionss) (PDF)