The system is composed of the eleven campuses at College Park, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Princess Anne, Towson, Salisbury, Bowie, Frostburg, Hagerstown, Rockville, Cambridge, and Adelphi, along with four regional higher education centers located throughout the state.

USM institutions attract more than $1.4 billion in research and development funding to the state annually and have helped foster the creation of more than 700 startup companies since 2011.

[citation needed] The system's Aa1 bond rating enables its institutions to borrow at lower costs to students, families and taxpayers.

[8] With leadership from the USM Board of Regents and the chancellor, the system office coordinates academic programs, assists with long-range planning and resource management, facilitates private fund raising, and provides financial stewardship.

The system office is headquartered in Baltimore, and has locations in College Park[9] (Adelphi postal address),[10] Annapolis, and Columbia.