BLEXIT arrived at Bowie State University yesterday with a message: “Happy Homecoming! Please leave the Democratic Party.” Inside the group’s visit, as well as how students and university officials reacted, in my latest story: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

The University System of Maryland, which includes 11 of the state’s public universities, has achieved its highest enrollment recorded to date. Universities in the system are educating 178,131 students this fall, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Happy Halloween! Since I can trace my horror fascination back as far as I remember, I wanted to find the Maryland kids who love all things scary, strange and creepy. They really didn't disappoint. www.thebanner.com/community/fa...

Morgan State University President David Wilson got a mysterious phone call at the start of October: a confidential high profile donor was interested in giving to the HBCU. Two weeks later, $63 million was in the university’s bank account. Here’s what happened: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Weeks after Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah, the student group he co-founded claims the University of Maryland, College Park violated its free-speech rights with a $148.52 security fee: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Had fun thinking out loud about the Baltimore harbor's huge, maybe historic? pistachio tide with Lindsay Smith Rogers at Johns Hopkins. A year ago, Lindsay did a deep dive into Baltimore's progress toward a swimmable harbor. Things have felt different the last few weeks...

Seven colleges in Maryland are now using direct admissions programs. That means students are receiving acceptances without actually applying to the schools. One Maryland university sent out 450,000 direct admit offers last year (!!!!!). Read my latest: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

ICYMI: Marylou Yam, president of Notre Dame of Maryland University, will retire this spring after 12 years of leadership. She saw the university through a number of changes, including in 2022 when the historically all-women college began admitting men. www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

A 31-year-old man was arrested for attempting to rape someone on the Johns Hopkins University campus, school and law enforcement officials announced today. The man arrested has an extensive criminal history and has served time before. With @sararuberg.bsky.social: www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

This story is the kind of reporting that brought me to The Banner. When @kris10griffith.bsky.social and I found out we were both interested in the efficacy of inspector general oversight of school systems, it was a dream collaboration. Check it out: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Do you ever get so overwhelmed at work you need to take a walk to clear your head? It happens to kids, too, which is why they should go outside, play and learn naturally from the world around them. Click for the cute pictures, keep reading for the brain science www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

What will the process look like for the Montgomery County Council to replace Gabe Albornoz, and who is eligible? I break it down here: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

I worked with the great @brendawintrode.bsky.social on my latest: Towson University students moved their “No Kings” rally off campus after a school official told them speakers’ names would be run through federal government databases and vetted for security reasons. www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Faculty at Baltimore City Community College were "blindsided" by Kurt Schmoke's plan to merge their employer with the University of Baltimore, the faculty union rep said at BCCC's Board of Trustees meeting. Here's the latest in the merger saga: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Breaking from me: Councilmember Gabe Albornoz will be leaving the Montgomery County Council on Dec. 1. A process to fill his seat for the last year of his term will follow: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

3/4 of Maryland kids can't get into after school programs. That keeps parents from being able to work while shutting kids out of much-needed extra learning and social time outside of the classroom. The situation was dire even before uncertainty under the Trump admin www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

BREAKING: Morgan State University has received the largest donation in its 158-year history: $63 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The gift is unrestricted, meaning the HBCU can spend the money however it wants. Here's what you should know: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

“This is very much an all-hands-on-deck sort of battlefield triage,” Earl Stoddard, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, said of cuts to federal grant programs www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Former Baltimore City Public Schools instructors are suing the system and a contracted nonprofit for months’ worth of payments they haven’t received. The teachers allege they haven’t been paid for work they did in April, May and June. By @kris10griffith.bsky.social: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

By @elliew0lfe.bsky.social: Kurt Schmoke’s bid to save a struggling college. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Loved spending my morning at Impact Maryland, the @thebaltimorebanner.com’s annual leadership conference. I got to watch a panel featuring a few university presidents, which is always a treat! Our coverage: www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

Kurt Schmoke is pitching a big idea: an “institutional consolidation” of the University of Baltimore and Baltimore City Community College. Schmoke, president of the university and chair of BCCC’s board, is already beginning his campaign. Our exclusive: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

There's a university in Baltimore with a huge archive of ghostly things. Who knew! 👻

Every line of this story was a delight. I had no idea where @elliew0lfe.bsky.social was going to go — but it was such a fun read!

Take a peek inside UMBC's Garrett collection, one of the world’s largest archives devoted to the study of hauntings, poltergeists, out-of-body experiences and seances. Happy spooooooky season, Maryland: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Ava Tasker-Mitchell felt so threatened during a call with the Somerset County school board chair that the superintendent left town, afraid for her safety, reports @lizbowie.bsky.social. Read: "Maryland’s messiest school district gets its dirty laundry aired" www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Breaking news: Heidi Anderson, president of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, announced today her doctoral dissertation will be "assessed" after the @thebaltimorebanner.com reported last week chunks of the paper were allegedly plagiarized: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

University of Maryland Eastern Shore president accused of plagiarism by former professor, @elliew0lfe.bsky.social report. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Scoop: Heidi Anderson, president of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, is accused of plagiarizing parts of her 1986 dissertation. Read about the accusation against the HBCU president, and see a side by side comparison, only in @thebaltimorebanner.com: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Missing paychecks, incorrect payments and withholding errors have burdened hundreds of Baltimore County Public Schools educators in the last month, reports @kris10griffith.bsky.social: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

The child care scholarship is the main way Maryland families get help with child care. Since many can't afford it otherwise, day cares and preschools rely on vouchers to fill spots. So what happens when the program gets frozen - and doesn't come back when predicted? www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

New w/ @elliew0lfe.bsky.social: : The Trump administration will begin to charge $100k each for visas that UMD and Hopkins use to hire researchers, scientists and professors. Among the affected? A Ukrainian researcher who may be forced to go home. “I am terrified" www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

I wrote my first ever obituary this week, about a Morgan State professor and former dean who truly transformed the lives of those he taught. "Clayton Creswell Stansbury Jr. was the epitome of Morgan State University" www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Today in Maryland higher ed news: The University System of Maryland Chancellor spoke about the "crippling" federal + state cuts the USM has faced, while the president of Johns Hopkins University announced their hiring freeze is continuing. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

The national Blue Ribbon program has come to an end. @mayaklora.bsky.social wrote about what Maryland educators had to say about it. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Montgomery County’s first LGBTQ+ center opened last month, at a crucial moment for the queer community. But advocates told me this is just the beginning, and that elected officials need to prioritize issues like housing and transit that impact marginalized people www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

It's been over five years since the onset of COVID-19, which means the babies born into the pandemic are off to pre-K 4 and kindergarten. How exactly can teachers support these kiddos, who spent their earliest years in isolation? I dug into it: www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

More than two dozen Maryland professors were placed on Charlie Kirk’s professor watchlist. Some now worry about their own safety now that Kirk is dead. Others are grappling with how to mourn someone that caused trauma in their own lives. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

NEW: The Trump administration is proposing cutting all funding for TRIO, a set of programs that helps low-income, first-generation students attend college. More than 12,000 Marylanders relied on the program last year. Here’s the potential impact: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

NEW: St. John's College, which recently laid off 5% of its staff amidst declining enrollment + the departure of its president, is sticking with its Great Books curriculum despite a rise in AI. Read my profile of the college as it reaches a reckoning point: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

⚕️: Notre Dame of Maryland University has officially completed its merger with the Maryland University of Integrative Health, making NDMU the nation’s first comprehensive university with a school solely dedicated to integrative health. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

🌸:Real Housewives of Potomac star Karen Huger is a free woman. The Grande Dame left jail six months early, after she was arrested for a DUI. A camera crew was spotted at the jail this morning, and Huger waved to fans as her car took her back to Potomac: www.thebanner.com/culture/film...

NEW: Amid declining enrollment and a multi-million dollar structural deficit, the University of Baltimore is consolidating majors. Majors such as history and English are being eliminated and consolidated into larger programs. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

📝 MCAP news: Some of Maryland's largest literacy gains are coming out of Baltimore City, report @mayaklora.bsky.social and data intern Patrick McCaslin. One of our many stories on MCAP data: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Want to know how your kid's school performed? Check out this database created by @thebaltimorebanner.com's data team: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

English Language Arts continues to be Maryland’s strongest subject. The same can’t be said for math, where just over a quarter of students are considered proficient, but test-takers still managed to move the needle. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

NEW: The Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins left the university this summer amid a nationwide rollback to such efforts pushed by the Trump administration. Her deputy also left his role at the same time. Here’s what we know: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Some 500 to 600 students who did not qualify for income-based state grants received them because of a “system error,” the Maryland Higher Education Commission said. By @elliew0lfe.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

After incorrectly awarding hundreds of students with financial aid grants, then revoking those awards, the Maryland Higher Education Commission said on Wednesday evening that those impacted can keep their scholarships after all. Read my latest: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

My very first story for The Banner was about how one nursery school director's ousting inspired her entire staff to resign. Plenty of families left, too. Now, that original school has closed while Miss Amy and her teachers are opening a new Howard County school www.thebanner.com/education/ea...