[9] Located then at Red Man's Hall on North Paca Street in Baltimore, the new teachers' school originally enrolled eleven students and fostered three faculty members.

[10][11] McFadden Alexander Newell served as the school's first principal as well as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and oversaw the first graduating class of sixteen students in June 1866.

The State Normal School soon quickly outgrew its temporary facilities in Red Man's Hall on Paca Street and moved to another temporary location in 1873 on the northeast corner of North Charles and East Franklin Streets, in the former William Howard Greek Revival mansion (son of famous American Revolutionary War Col. John Eager Howard of the famous "Maryland Line" in the Continental Army who owned most of the land north of Baltimore Town as his estate of "Belvidere" or "Howard's Woods"), and his family was now starting to develop and lay out city streets.

Principal Sarah Richmond, one of the original eleven graduates, began a campaign to establish a campus where the school could function more appropriately.

John Charles Linthicum was appointed president of the committee, alongside State Superintendent M. Bates Stephens and Sarah Richmond.

[22][23] Other notable undergraduate programs at Towson according to U.S. News & World Report include business administration, computer science, and nursing.

In terms of demographics, the student population of Towson University is 60% female; 42% White; 30% Black or African American; 10% Hispanic; 7% Asian.

[30] The university has 16 residence halls, which include apartment complexes, modern high-rise towers, and more traditional two- and three-story residential buildings.

The Towson University Police Department (TUPD) is the primary law enforcement agency servicing the students, faculty, and visitors within the campus limits and adjacent streets and roadways.

The university found that in the past, it has been guided by master plans that focused inward, resulting in disjointed campus development that was disconnected from the larger Towson community.

[37] As part of this vision, Towson's campus is undergoing many construction projects set into different phases with staggered completion dates.

The university boast a 44% recycling rate, trayless and strawless dining, 4000 solar panels, 36 E/V charging stations, three green roofs and two bikeshares.

In September 2010 Caret hired a new director of athletics, Michael P. Waddell, who had significant program building experience at the highest levels of college sports and led the Tigers to unprecedented success during his three years at the helm, including eleven (11) CAA Regular Season & Tournament Championships.

Towson University offers the most comprehensive sports program in the metropolitan Baltimore area, fielding 20 varsity teams that compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.

During an athletics history that traces its roots to the 1920s, Towson has sent teams and individual student-athletes to NCAA post-season competition in baseball, basketball, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, track & field and volleyball.

Eleven Tigers have been named CAA Scholar-Athlete Award Winners for their respective sports, including the 2010 cross country recipient, Brandi Gervais, a senior Biology/Pre-Dentistry Major with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

A number of student-athletes have gone on to enjoy professional careers, including Jermon Bushrod, the starting left offensive tackle for the 2009 Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints; former Major League Baseball outfielder Casper Wells; and former National Basketball Association shooting guard Gary Neal.

In September 2006, the Towerlight reported that a new bronze tiger statue had been unveiled as the centerpiece of the university's "Capital Campaign" to raise $50 million.

[48][49] Tigerfest is TU's annual spring festival that features interactive activities for students, as well as live musical entertainment.

Tigerfest, which is also open to the public (not just TU students), occurs in late April and was held in Johnny Unitas Stadium for most of the event's history.

Artists such as Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti, Krewella, Kid Cudi,[50] The Used, and Yellowcard have appeared at Tigerfest in the past.

[54] Former President Caret established a program called Adopt-A-Campus, which gives local businesses, organizations and others an opportunity to help beautify the TU campus.

[58] One victim was a student of Freundel's at Towson, and was encouraged by the professor to take “practice dunks” in the mikvah, though she was not Jewish and had no intention of converting.

[59] Authorities reported dozens of students may have also been taken on these “dunking field trips.” After serving a search warrant on Freundel's Towson office, police found a number of computer storage devices, hidden cameras concealed in items such as tissue boxes and a clock radio, and a list of handwritten names.