Md. universities, lawmakers look to avoid program duplication, honor HBCU settlement

University leaders and state lawmakers have called for the legislature to require public deliberations and decisions for contested academic program proposals to keep Maryland in line with a recent settlement for underfunding HBCUs for decades. In a set of roughly two dozen recommendations approved Friday, a work group of school leaders and lawmakers also pushed for the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which establishes statewide policies for public and private colleges and universities, to clean up and regulate the program approval process.