Allegany College of Maryland was founded in August of 1961 by a resolution passed by the Allegany County Board of Education and approved by the Allegany County Commissioners. The College, which now has separate governance under a Board of Trustees, is an example of the rapid growth in the development of Maryland’s community college system.

Allegany College of Maryland was established to provide low-cost, high quality, higher education for the residents of the area. Its accessibility to the county’s center of population permits students to live at home, thus saving a substantial part of out-of-pocket costs for a college education.

Although heavy emphasis was placed on liberal arts transfer programs in the College’s early development, in recent years the College has developed highly specialized curricula, including those in the technological and pre-professional areas, as career programs to satisfy identified needs of the region. Ever cognizant of its responsibility to an industrial area pocketed in Appalachian Western Maryland, Allegany College of Maryland has accepted a mission to make tangible contributions through higher education to the economic and cultural growth of the area. Through its Board of Trustees, the College presents a dimension of learning that prepares men and women for the excitement and satisfaction of creative lives.