Today, the Center hosts over 90 graduate university degree programs and 13 bachelor completion degree programs, presented in their entirety at SMHEC by ten distinguished university partners in the professional fields of engineering; education; management; clinical and community counseling, and school counseling; information technology; business dministration; technical management; communications; and human resources, financial management, health care, marketing, and project management. SMHEC’s university partners include: Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland University College, George Washington University, The Catholic University, Towson University, The College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Gratz College, Capitol College, and Webster University.

SMHEC’s campus is located on a 24 acre site in the Wildewood Professional and Technology Park, in California, MD. The campus is currently composed of two buildings, constructed in 1994 and 2003. SMHEC boasts a total of 59,000 square feet of space with 35 high technology supported classrooms and five medium and large meeting and conference rooms. Included among the 35 classrooms are five computer laboratories each with 24 stations, video conference rooms, small conference rooms and board rooms. A 430 - seat conference /lecture/special event hall is also available. Parking is plentiful and free with 275 on-campus spaces.

Mission

The Southern Maryland Higher Education Center (SMHEC) was established by State legislation in 1994 in response to the expanded role of the U.S. Navy at Patuxent River; to provide on-site and complete access to quality graduate education degree programs in a Region historically underserved by Higher Education institutions; and to support the economic development of the Southern Maryland Region.

SMHEC presents graduate degree programs in their entirety at its 24-acre campus facility in California, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Working with the leadership at the Patuxent River Naval Base, public schools administrators, economic development agencies, and the technology and defense support community, the Center selects academic programs and universities that meet the professional development needs of the Tri-County Region. The Maryland Higher Education Commission approves all degree programs for presentation at SMHEC.

Under the guidance of a Board of Governors appointed by the Governor of Maryland, the Center provides the Region’s citizens with unprecedented higher education opportunities. Over 90 graduate degree programs have been approved for presentation at SMHEC, in addition to several graduate certificate programs, education certification programs, and undergraduate completion degree programs.

The role and mission of the SMHEC has required continuing expansion in response to the advancement of the Tri-County Region as a high-technology area, the continued growth of the technology workforce in the Region, expansion of the Patuxent River Naval Base and related defense activities, growth in degree program offerings and class enrollments, and the dire need for qualified teachers in the Southern Maryland public schools.

The economic and social environment of Southern Maryland creates specific and unique constituencies served by SMHEC. These include the U.S. Navy at Patuxent River Naval Base, its personnel and their dependents; the three county governments in Southern Maryland; the State of Maryland; area businesses and industry; Southern Maryland residents earning master’s degrees for professional development; community college students seeking upper-level undergraduate programs to complete their bachelor’s degrees, and teachers and administrators seeking additional skills, credentials and
certification.

The following universities are SMHEC academic partners, offering degree programs at SMHEC in their entirety Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland University College, George Washington University, The Catholic University, Towson University, The College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Gratz College, Capitol College, and Webster University.  SMHEC also serves as a premier training, conferencing, and meeting facility utilized by
the U.S. Navy at the Patuxent River Naval Base; the defense support industry; technology trainers; state, county and local governments; public schools, and community organizations.

Major distinguishing features of SMHEC are its high-tech facilities and accessible campus location, making state-of-the art graduate level learning conveniently available to a professional workforce distanced from the major university centers in the State and the Washington-Baltimore Region.

SMHEC recognizes that the technology demands of the current and future job markets dictate that instructors and students alike integrate technology into the higher education experience. Technology is an integral component of the spectrum of graduate degrees presented at the Center. Teachers, trainers and students maximize instruction and learning
by utilizing the high-tech equipment available in the Center’s classrooms and computer labs.

SMHEC is located on its own 24-acre campus within the Wildewood Professional and Technology Park in California, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The site is six miles north of the Patuxent River Naval Base, and even closer to the 250 technology companies located in Lexington Park and California. Prince Frederick, the county seat and urban center of Calvert County is about 20 miles away, and Waldorf, the business center of Charles County, is about 35 miles away.

SMHEC’s Classroom Building One, with 15 classrooms and two multi-purpose rooms, opened in 1995. Classroom Building Two, with 21 classrooms and two multipurpose rooms, opened in 2003. A Third Classroom Building and Conference Center is in its planning phase and is expected to open within two years.

Each SMHEC campus building has its own unique features, all designed to offer the highest quality, technologically sophisticated, student service-focused graduate learning and professional training available in Southern Maryland. Ongoing campus expansion is in response to the growing and urgent need for suitable space to meet the high-level conference and meeting needs of the high-tech economy in Southern Maryland, particularly the Patuxent River Naval Base, and for appropriate facilities to provide professional training, and to deliver an expanded program of graduate education opportunities.

SMHEC provides a full spectrum of facilities and services to support these programs, including classrooms, computer laboratories, instructional equipment, administrative service, and offices for university coordinator presence onsite to assure optimum student service. SMHEC develops and maintains relationships with state, county and local leaders in government, business and education to assure SMHEC and its programs remain at the forefront of higher education in Southern Maryland.

SMHEC meets the stated needs of the 25,000 strong high-technology workforce in the Region, both civilian and military, by providing a range of engineering, applied sciences, and management graduate degree programs.  In engineering and information systems there  are 37 academic programs, including bachelor’s completion programs, masters programs, and doctorates. There are also doctorates and master’s degrees in management, education and executive leadership.

A shortage of teachers is a condition the three public school districts in Southern Maryland continually face. To assist the need for new teachers and to provide continuing education and professional development for teachers, the Center offers master’s degrees in education, post-master’s certificates in education and certification programs.  Over 15,000 class enrollments by teachers have been recorded since SMHEC opened.

Master’s programs in nursing and social welfare, and a completion bachelor’s degree in nursing, provide an opportunity for the Region’s health providers to further develop the professional skills of their workforce in these fields, and to assure the most recent processes and skills are available for the social and health benefits of the Region’s population.

One of the assumptions driving SMHEC’s growth and planning is that all of the State and local political leaders in the three Southern Maryland counties agree that the successful economy of the future will be closely matched to the marriage of technology and higher education.