Baltimore, Md., February 11, 2008 ---  Five students from College of Notre Dame of Maryland joined President Mary Pat Seurkamp and more than 150 others at Maryland Independent Higher Education Day in Annapolis February 7.

The day, proclaimed by Governor Martin O’Malley as Maryland Independent Higher Education Day, was sponsored by the Maryland Independent College and University Association. Lt. Governor Anthony Brown provided the keynote address at the day’s luncheon.

Rachel Barstow ’08 of Great Mills, Jennifer Hale ’08 of Norrisville, Jessica Hood ’10 of Baltimore, Katherine Joyner ’08 of Havre de Grace and Michelle Santos ’10 of Crofton participated in a day of briefings and meetings with legislators in the state capital.

The focus of the students’ discussions with legislators was on restoring Sellinger Program funding to its statutory level. The Sellinger Program was fully funded in Fiscal Year in 2007 but received a $2.5 million cut in Fiscal Year 2008.

Sellinger Program funding at College of Notre Dame provides financial aid to support underserved students and educates nurses and teachers to respond to the state’s critical workforce shortages in these areas.

Maryland’s independent colleges and universities have been educating women and men in Maryland for 225 years. Every year, Maryland’s private colleges and universities serve 50,000 students, confer 25 percent of all degrees awarded in Maryland and have the highest four-year graduation rates in the state.

Together with the public universities and community colleges, MICUA institutions create a highly-skilled workforce for Maryland employers. Maryland is one of the most highly educated states in the nation, ranking first in graduate and professional degree attainment and second in bachelor’s degree attainment.