[11] The university offers 135 academic programs in online, hybrid and face-to-face classes, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as undergraduate and graduate certificates.

[14] The residential campus offered a two-year associate degree and mainly served high school graduate children of U.S. military and government personnel stationed in Europe.

[citation needed] In 2023, UMGC has more than 175 classroom and service locations on military installations and other education centers throughout the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, as well as in Asia.

[17] In 1953, Raymond Ehrensberger, chancellor of the institution at that time, wanted to change the name to something more meaningful and less cumbersome for people to say and remember.

UMGC later adopted the use of the Web for connectivity to its online classrooms, as well as using television and correspondence courses to deliver course content.The university has three schools: UMGC offers more than 30 bachelor's degree programs and undergraduate certificates, awarded in cybersecurity, biotechnology, business management, computers/information technology, communications, criminal justice/legal studies, and social sciences.

[24] Undergraduate students can earn credit through coursework and prior-learning programs, which recognize professional and workplace experience, including military service.

UMGC offers face-to-face courses and support for students at U.S. military locations in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Guam, Japan, Okinawa, Singapore, South Korea, Diego Garcia, Spain, and Italy.

In an attempt to establish its own identity as an independent university, UMGC changed its postal address to Adelphi, an unincorporated community that borders College Park.

The marketing decision to change its postal address was one of many undertaken by UMGC to distinguish the university as one of the largest distance-education centers, with over 248,000 students enrolled worldwide in FY 2015.

[30][31] In the greater Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, classes are held at 20 locations, including on the campus of University of Maryland, College Park.

In Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, UMGC offers courses on military bases for service members, contractors, Federal employees, and their families.

[34] In addition to distance learning via the Web, the university offers on-site, instructor-led classes and/or services at 175 overseas US military bases in 20 countries throughout the world.

[36] UMGC divisional headquarters are located in Kaiserslautern, Germany (following the closure of United States Army Garrison Heidelberg) and on Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, respectively.

[37][38] UMGC specializes in distance learning for adult, non-traditional students in Maryland, across the country, and around the world by operating education centers and offering online instruction.