After six weeks without students on campus en masse it almost seems strange, but it's good to see them. It sounds like we will see even more students in Fall 2026 with the planned incoming freshman class enrollment of 5,459 students compared to approximately 5,100 in Fall 2025. I am learning just how competitive it is to be a Terp!
This year’s applicant pool includes more than 67,000 freshman applications. The Admissions office tells us that successful students have earned far more A’s with very few B’s while enrolled in challenging courses, including Honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate classes, and the average GPA for accepted students is an impressive 4.42! I am not sure I would have made the cut! I often hear people state their concerns about friends and family knowing someone who was not accepted. The campus can’t reasonably support more students without compromising the quality of the experience – think about classroom space, lab course occupancy, dining hall, and dormitory space, not to mention congestion. Fortunately, more than 70% of our students are from Maryland, but that doesn't necessarily mean that those not accepted feel better about their situation.
Now that I have this data, I see the challenge of increasing enrollment in AGNR quite differently. With acceptance rates similar to federal competitive funding program success rates, our focus should turn to those students who are accepted but undecided about their major and career path. Recently, I have been in conversations about Big Question or General Education courses that are targeted towards first- or second-year students. I think that’s the right path to consider, focusing on filling a few courses by consolidating existing courses to optimize faculty time and effort. This may be an area where AGNR needs to make some investments.
Speaking of federal competitive grant programs, this week AGNR hosts NIFA Director Jaye Hamby. We are excited to showcase our programs and their alignment with NIFA priorities. I am grateful that NIFA accepted our invitation and has demonstrated its commitment to the partnership while we searched for a new date following a reschedule from November due to the government shutdown.
I accepted an opportunity to welcome research and education center managers and leaders from the Northeast region. Our own team hosted the Northeastern Society of Agricultural Research Managers on the Eastern Shore this week. I only caught the evening session before the official start of the meeting, but, appreciated the chance to thank this group for all they do to support research, Extension, and education missions for the land grant universities of the Northeast. It is not easy to keep things running smoothly amidst weather, deferred maintenance, and funding challenges, but centers like those in Maryland (Western Maryland, Central Maryland, Wye, and Lower Eastern Shore) are vital to the delivery of relevant programming that engages the local community.
I will end the week spending time on Sunday at the 2026 Maryland 4-H State Achievement event in Timonium. This event will be another first for me in Maryland, and I look forward to the awardees accepting their honors. It looks like the temperatures will be much more favorable for the day than this past weekend.