Founded in 1898, Frostburg State University (FSU) is a comprehensive, regional Master's university located in the scenic highlands of Western Maryland. FSU is the only four-year public institution in Maryland west of the Baltimore-Washington metro area and serves as the premier educational and cultural center for Western Maryland and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. FSU offers 43 undergraduate majors and two engineering majors (in conjunction with the University of Maryland, College Park) through its three colleges: the College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. It also offers graduate degree programs in business, education, biological sciences, computer science, psychology and recreation management. A professional master of engineering degree is also offered in collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park. The University's buildings and grounds, set on 260 acres, make learning, living and working on the Frostburg campus a special pleasure as students enjoy modern facilities including outstanding physical education and performing arts centers, a new state-of-the-art science center and apartment-style housing clustered around spacious, student-friendly quads.

As a member of the University System of Maryland, FSU actively seeks out opportunities to collaborate with other USM institutions to increase the offerings available to student. The system is made up of 11 universities, two research institutes and two regional higher education centers and is the 12th largest university system in the United Stats serving over 100,000 undergraduate students, 30,000 graduate students, with 8,700 faculty. USM has the largest offering of online programs in the US of any public university offering 100 distinct undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs.

With 4,300 undergraduate students, 700 graduate students and 233 faculty members, FSU's main campus focuses on traditional residential students but also serves the diverse learning needs of non-traditional students with on-line courses, distance learning, collaborative programs and the downstate center located in Hagerstown. FSU offers an array of high-quality and affordable undergraduate and graduate degrees emphasizing academic programs in education, business, applied science and technology, and creative and performing arts, as well as programs in the humanities and social sciences. As a comprehensive regional university, FSU also serves as an educational and cultural center for Western Maryland and plays a vital role in regional economic development initiatives.

  Over the past several years, FSU has completed two phases of a major facilities plan with the $6.5 million renovation in 2002 of Gunter Hall which houses the Department of Geography and laboratory facilities and the construction of the $33 million Compton Science Center in 2003. The final phase of the plan is currently under design and is scheduled to be completed by 2010 with the construction of the Center for Communications and Information Technology, a $52 million building specifically designed for technology-intensive disciplines, including mass communications, computer science, graphic design and mathematics. The final phase also includes an expanded planetarium and state-of-the-art venues for FSU's television and radio stations.