MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. It's Maryland's flagship college campus, located off Route 1 in College Park. A suburban setting that's a quick Metro ride from downtown D.C. with 27,000 undergraduates and another 10,000 grad students. It's the largest school in the Washington region. As such, the University of Maryland is dealing with the same issues that face colleges across the country.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIGrowing alarm over sexual violence on campus, rising concern about the high cost of an education. And questions about the role of sports on the university's bottom line. Four years ago this month, former University of Washington Law School Dean and University of Iowa Provost Wallace Loh took the helm as President of the University of Maryland. He joins us today to talk about four years in College Park and about the future of the university. Wallace Loh, thank you so much for joining us.

MR. WALLACE LOHThank you, Kojo, for inviting me.

NNAMDIYou too can join this conversation. Give us a call at 800-433-8850. If you have comments or questions for President Loh, you can also send email to kojo@wamu.org or go to our website, kojoshow.org. Watch our live video stream and ask a question or make a comment there. You can also shoot us a tweet @kojoshow. Your own back story. You were born in China, went to high school in Peru, then moved to the US by yourself at the age of 15. Tell us about that.

LOHWell, I am a Latasian, meaning I was born in China, we spoke Chinese at home, but Spanish in school. So, my true native language is Spanish. It's the only language I can speak without an accent. I speak Chinese with a Latino accent and I speak English with an -- with both a Latino and Chinese accent. But at the age of 15, my parents gave me 300 dollars and wished me well, to come to America, the land of opportunity. And to find my career here.

NNAMDIYour parents obviously recognized a certain maturity in you at the age of 15. However, you're a Yale Law School grad, former Law School Dean. You've held administrative posts at a number of universities. How did all of that prepare you for what you're doing today?

LOHIt prepared me because education is my passion. Especially in this country, it's a passport to social and economic opportunity. I've been blessed by the opportunities provided to me by this country, and I would like to give back. And the way to give back, one's calling, is to help educate the next generation of citizens and leaders for this country.

NNAMDIBut there are several levels at which one can do that, from teaching in an elementary school. But you were Provost at the University of Iowa when the Maryland search committee approached you about the top job here. Why was that appealing to you?

LOHWell, when I -- my calling has always been as a teacher. And also as a scholar. That's where my passions were. When I first became an administrator, I was deeply conflicted. I talked to my mother, who was a school superintendent in the old country. And she gave me a piece of advice which I have never forgotten. She said, Wallace, there are those who sing and dance. And there are those who help others to sing and dance. Never forget what's your main responsibility. And as an administrator, my responsibility is to enable the faculty and the students to sing and dance.

NNAMDII'm presuming that you, yourself, cannot sing and dance.

LOHI'm better staying on the sidelines cheering others and inspiring them to sing and dance.

NNAMDIOur guest is Wallace Loh. He is President of the University of Maryland in College Park. We're taking your calls at 800-433-8850. You can send email to kojo@wamu.org. How do you think schools can address the rising cost of a college education? 800-433-8850. Let us indeed look at the cost of a college education today, President Loh. It's a nationwide concern. At the University of Maryland, tuition, room and board for instate undergrads is just about under 20,000 dollars for this year. And for out of state students, it's 40,000.

NNAMDIWe know, of course, that the University of Maryland has managed to keep recent tuition increases relatively low compared with other state schools, but nevertheless, why is college so much more expensive relative to family incomes than it used to be?

LOHTuition and fees at the University of Maryland for instate students is 9,400. And for out of state students, it's approximately 28,000. Relative to our peer institutions, other major public research universities, other flagships, that are ranked among the top 20 in the nation, we are close to the bottom in terms of tuition and fees. Now, that said, 9,400 may still be very unaffordable for people of low income. So, what we have is we provide about 46 billion dollars a year in financial aid.

LOHWhat we also do is we look at what is the debt load of our students? Approximately 42 percent of our students graduate with debt. The other, you know, almost 60 percent graduate with no debt. And of those that graduate with debt, the average debt load is 25,000. Compared to the national debt, which is about 30,000 and 70 percent of students graduate with debt. So, that is a large amount, but I think it should also be placing perspective. It is not an expense. It is an investment.

LOHIn the sense that if you borrow 25,000, you can buy a mid-sized car. Or you can invest 25,000 in your education that, over the course of a lifetime, will result in earnings of about one and a half million dollars more than if you did not have a degree. So, I think what is important is to put it also in the context that our default rate of University of Maryland students is 2.8 percent. The national default rate is close to 14 percent. So what that tells us is that yes, for a small percentage of students, this is a very significant debt.

LOHBut for the vast majority, it is an investment that will eventually pay off, in terms of increased lifetime income.

NNAMDIHow do you set tuition for each year? Maryland froze tuition for four years, starting in 2006. How do you set tuition each year and what's your long view for the trajectory of tuition at Maryland?

LOHThe reason that over the past 25 years or so, tuition has risen slowly, but it has certainly accelerated since the Great Recession is because the actual cost is a combination of tuition and state appropriations in public institutions. Currently, at 9,400, that represents 33 percent of the actual cost of educating the student and the state then covers about 66 percent. Two thirds of the cost. That ratio has changed over time. So, 25 years ago, the proportion that the students were paying were much less. And the reason it has changed is simply because of the national economics have changed.

LOHAs states have become squeezed for funding, as entitlement programs have skyrocketed in costs, there's less money to go around. So the state has shifted that cost, to some extent, onto the shoulders of students and their families. But in the state of Maryland, the state has shifted them much less than in other states.

NNAMDIMaryland Governor Martin O'Malley is proud that he's kept in state tuition low by ensuring strong state funding for higher education. But some say that amounts to taxpayers subsidizing the rich because many families could afford to pay more. Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the country, or has some of the wealthiest residents. So a lot of those people would prefer to see higher tuition combined with more financial aid for low income students. What are your thoughts about that?

LOHWell, that is in fact a very important philosophical decision. A policy issue that is debated nationwide. And I think it goes to the basic philosophical question, is public higher education funded by taxpayers? Is that primarily a public benefit that society benefits when taxpayers pay for the education of -- the college education of the residents? Or is it primarily a private benefit that the recipient of that funding is the one who benefits? And of course, it's a combination of the two. And the question is, how much is a public benefit? How much is a private benefit?

LOHThat is the difficult question. And in the state of Maryland, it is the case that we have the highest medium family income in the nation. We also have one of the lowest tuitions and fees among major public research universities. So, the question as to whether or not, you know, there should be some modest increases in tuition in order to make college more affordable to our fellow citizens who may come from low incomes, that is a very important philosophical and policy issue.

NNAMDIValid discussion to have.

LOHAbsolutely.

NNAMDIOn to the telephones. Please don your headphones, because we will now hear what Jeff in Kensington, Maryland is concerned about. Jeff, you are on the air. Go ahead, please.

JEFFHi. Thank you, Kojo. I appreciate you taking my call. My question for Dr. Loh concerns the standards for in state versus out of state students. To my knowledge, the academic standards for out of state students attending Maryland are lower than the academic students for in state students attending Maryland. How can we, you know, how can we justify, you know, an admissions policy where the academic standards are different, depending on where you live?

LOHThe academic standards are not different. We, over the past 20, 25 years, the standards for admitting students at the University of Maryland has slowly but inexorably increased. In the entering freshman class, the median GPA is about a 4.2. The median SAT score is about a 1310. That puts us among the top 10 public research universities in terms of the selectivity of our students. And about, I would say, 22 percent of our students are from out of state, and out of state includes, of course, from around the world. And we don't just look at these scores and grade point averages.

LOHWe do a holistic assessment of the student body. And so, 77 percent or so, of our students are from the state of Maryland. All I can say is that, given the very high standards, I'm, as a new president, simply thankful that the criteria for hiring a president are not as high as the criteria for admitting freshmen. Whether you're in state or out of state.

NNAMDIWhere do you think the perception comes from, that the standards for admitting out of state students are lower than the standards for admitting in state students? Is it because you include a number of other factors in the admitting process that may lead to that impression?

LOHOh, absolutely. I can tell you that we turn away many students who have higher than an 1130 on the SAT, because we look at about 18, 20 factors. It is not just about numbers. It is also about the types of courses, about their extra-curricular activities. It's about their areas of interest. If we are overwhelmed with applicants in one college, as opposed to another college, naturally that college will have somewhat higher standards. So, it is a holistic assessment of every individual.

NNAMDIJeff, thank you very much for your call. We move on now to Christine in Fairfax, VA, who I think will take us to the next issue we wanted to get to. Christine, you are on the air, go ahead please.

CHRISTINEHi, Kojo, thank you for taking my call. My question is this, I was a Maryland high school and college student, but not University of Maryland. And I was actually a sexual assault victim while I was in college. And it actually happened off-campus. So we didn't get a whole lot of support from the university itself. And so, my question is, what are the plans for dealing with sexual assault that happen with students, not only on-campus but off-campus as well?

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call. As I indicated, that's the issue we wanted to get to next. So, Dr. Loh, we're going to have to take a short break shortly, but you may want to respond to Christine's question first.

LOHYes. Thank you, Christine, for this very important issue. Preventing and eliminate sexual assault on campus is a top priority of the University of Maryland and surely of every single college in the country. What we have done is we have totally revamped our policies and procedures, defining the offenses much more clearly, determining what are the standards for investigation and adjudication and appeal. We are also requiring -- we're mandating sexual assault prevention training for all faculty, staff and students.

LOHThat's almost 50,000 people that will go through this required training, including the president himself. We have dramatically the resources in terms of counseling and support services for survivors. We have also added a Title IX coordinator and hired professional investigators. And the training that we're providing is not only online, it's also face to face in terms of bi-standard intervention. I think this is a very important issue that the nation must address.

NNAMDIGot to take a short break. Christine, thank you very much for your call. If you have comments or questions about what colleges might be able to do better to address sexual misconduct on campus, give us a call, 800-433-8850. Or you can offer a comment at our website, kojoshow.org and enjoy watching the live video stream of this broadcast. You can shoot us a tweet @kojoshow. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.

NNAMDIOur guest is Wallace Loh, president of the University of Maryland in College Park. You can join the conversation. Give us a call 800-433-8850. What should colleges do to better address sexual misconduct on campus? Do you endorse Maryland's move to the Big Ten Athletic Conference? 800-433-8850. You can send email to kojo@wamu.org or shoot us a tweet @kojoshow. I understand, Dr. Loh, you were personally involved in hammering out the language of the new sexual violence policy. One of your big concerns was the definition of sexual assault? What does the policy say? And how is it different from the Maryland system-wide policy?

LOHOne of things that the policy does is it defines whole category of issues that have not been clarified in the past such as stalking, harassment, sexual misconduct, and so on and so forth. What the state of Maryland does -- and there are wide variations from state to state -- is that the state of Maryland has the category of rape and it calibrates it to rape in the first degree, second degree, attempted rape in the first degree, second degree and so forth.

LOHAnd a totally separate category of what the state of Maryland calls sexual offenses. And they are also calibrated by degrees. And sexual offense in the fourth degree is non-consensual sexual contact. So one of the things that we have to address is -- there's no question that sexual contact is an offense. And whether it should be labeled, whether the term should be an assault or, i.e. a rape under the language of the Maryland law or whether it should be a sexual offense.

LOHSo, since this was a draft that I worked with together with the whole counsel, with our -- a number of other people on campus and is now before the University Senate for their review. But in the interim, it is in effect, but it's not the final version. Again, the question is whether or not to label a sexual contact an assault or whether to label it as an offense.

NNAMDIBecause there is now sexual assault one, which is non-consensual sexual intercourse and sexual assault two is non-consensual sexual contact, which should be anyone intentionally touching or any intentional touching of the intimate parts of another person.

LOHThat's correct.

NNAMDILucky you're a lawyer to get involved in this. Last spring, you created an office of sexual misconduct and relationship violence led by an attorney and new procedures that allow both parties and a complaint to have an attorney present during an investigation. But only in an advisory role. What's the process that takes place when students report sexual violence? And was last night's edition of "The Good Wife" accurate then? Which they had a scene about a student at a college who was allowed to have an adviser. But the adviser was not able to question anyone.

LOHSure.

NNAMDIThe adviser was only there to be advising the student who had made the complaint.

LOHI think these are the issues that are currently very contentious. They are being debated nationwide. On the one hand, we come from -- we have an 800-year history where, as Justice Frankfurter once told us, the history of American liberty is the history of procedure, of fair processes. The presumption of innocence and so on and so forth, and the elaborate set of processes and evidentiary rules to govern criminal cases.

LOHOn the other hand, the fact is that for a long, long time, because of the issue of consent that criminal juries often do not convict people of rape. So what we're trying to do now -- we meaning higher education generally -- is to come up with a set of procedures administrative through this naughty replication of a criminal trial that tries to balance, on the one hand, safeguards for the person who is accused because fundamental due process is required.

LOHAnd on the other hand, have a very supportive and safe environment for complainants so that they can come forward. So to answer your question, striking that balance, the reason all people can disagree. And until some legislature, Congress or some court says this is the definitive procedure, we will have disagreements. But what we have done is we do allow counsel for both sides.

LOHThey can advise. They can question the investigator. But, no, they do not have counsel for the accused perpetrator does not cross-examine the victim, because we do not want the victim to be re-traumatized by your traditional cross-examination.

NNAMDIOn now to development in College Park. Here is Peter in Washington, D.C. Peter, you're on the air, go ahead please.

PETERThanks for my call, Kojo. Dr. Loh, I've heard you say in the past that part of what makes a great university is a great university town. And I'm curious about your vision for the redevelopment of College Park, especially downtown College Park and the role that the University of Maryland might play in the revitalization of that part of Prince George's County.

LOHWell, thank you for that question, Peter, because I think the future of University of Maryland as a top 20 public research university is inextricably tied to the future of the surrounding communities. And specifically, it has the -- so in order to be able to continue to attract and retain top students and faculty and staff, we need to be active participants and partners with the surrounding community, with the county, in order to revitalize it.

LOHSo what it needs is the following things. Number one, we have come out in complete support of the Purple line going right through the middle of the campus to deal with issues of transportation. Secondly, we are concerned about the perception of safety, so we have hired more police officers, purchased more police cars. And they have concurrent jurisdiction to patrol larger areas, not just the campus, but larger areas of the city. Number three, people decide where to live in large measure by the quality of the schools.

LOHWe have established a public charter school working with College Park and the Prince George's County school board that is hybrid education, face to face as well as online, involving faculty and staff in that school. And, of course, we're working on in terms of real estate development. Currently, there's almost $700 million worth of redevelopment projects along Route 1 that will add amenities, that will add market-rate housing, that will, I believe, in the next several years basically transform College Park as we know it.

NNAMDIWe got a tweet from Aaron who says, "It would be nicer to have a safer, nicer college town around the campus. But development is slow-going." We got another tweet from Jamie on Route 1 who said, "It's great to see Route 1 improve. But as an alum, it's hard to lose a lot of the memories. And Route 1 will likely always be an eyesore." You don't agree with that, do you? That Route 1 will always likely be an eyesore?

LOHWell, Route 1 is a state highway, but I remind people the Wisconsin Avenue is a state highway, too. Once you have development, once you have nice amenities and people out on the streets, that tends to have a calming effect on traffic. I'm really appreciative to the State Highway Department for the very major changes they've done over the summer to dramatically reduce the speed limit on Route 1 near the campus, to install more traffic lights.

LOHNow that we are having a four-star hotel right on Route 1, now that new projects, restaurants and other housing and retail and we hope an upscale grocery store are coming to Route 1 that that will change -- dramatically change -- Route 1.

NNAMDIOn to -- Peter, thank you for your call. Here's Mark in Silver Spring, MD. Mark, you're on the air, go ahead please.

MARKThanks, Kojo. My kid actually go to College Park. On the one hand, College Park is a really big place. And given its sheer size, it's hard -- I can only stand to attune to an individual's, a student's learning style, their needs, et cetera, despite resources available. So on the one hand, you're a big place, but you do have hurdles where you do have profs who say to freshman, 50 to 75 percent of you are either going to drop or fail.

MARKThere's a strong reliance on graduate students to teach and that has a bigger impact because each student -- grad student has their own attitudes as to how much time to give out to teaching and grading. So, as a parent, there is a need to kind of understand how to tailor the school's resources to provide a supportive learning environment to the student. And one university that appears to be doing that in a very good way is just up the road at UMBC, because Hrabowski has made an effort to provide yearly...

NNAMDIBelieve me, we had an hour-long conversation on this broadcast in which he explained how he was trying to do that. But I do understand, and I'm sure that Dr. Loh understand, the point that you were trying to make is that we are talking about a very large campus and the effort to meet a student's individual needs might indeed be a greater challenge in that environment. So allow me to have him respond.

LOHThank you. Well, Mark raises a very good question because higher educated student in a university with 38,000 students is very different than how you educate them in a smaller college or intermediate size or smaller regional institution. But the reason that the University of Maryland has risen so dramatically in terms of its attractiveness to students that we now recruit 25 percent of the very best students of Maryland is because about 60 percent of our students are now in living learning communities.

LOHWhen they come, they are not 1 out of 4,500 freshmen, they're 1 out 200. Two hundred students who live together, eat together, have classes together in areas of common interest whether it'd be cyber security, whether it'd be pre-law, whether it'd arts and humanities. So we have shrunk the psychological size of the institution. And this kind of bonding with each other creates a sense of community that may not have existed, say, a generation ago.

LOHAnd we hope to expand it to all 100 percent of our students. It is a very expensive but also a very deeply enriching premium education that we provide.

NNAMDIMark, thank you very much for your call. Another big change at Maryland this year is on the playing field. The Terps has moved into the Big Ten Athletic Conference after almost 60 years in the UCC. That move drew mixed reactions both from alums and students alike. In your mind, why is the Big Ten the better place to be?

LOHThe Big Ten is more than an athletic conference. What makes the Big Ten different from all the other athletic conferences is also a superb university. The move to the Big Ten was motivated by two factors. What is, to enhance this university, to become even more preeminent than it is academically, we should be associated with peer institutions, other large public flagship universities that are ranked among the top 20.

LOHAnd there are so many academic, educational, research collaborations that exist among the Big Ten institutions that do not exist anywhere else. And the second reason is in terms or the athletics. We had to cut teams because we inherited a very significant deficit. I would never ever want my successor to have to face, you know, dozens of students in the office crying because they feel that their careers has been ruined because the teams have been cut.

LOHAnd so, moving to the Big Ten provided us with significant new resources that I believe -- I know will ensure the future of Maryland athletics for the next 50 years.

NNAMDIWe got a tweet from Charles who writes, "The University of Maryland cut seven sports and moved to the Big Ten. The school is in business to make money. But why does the athletic director have to dismiss tradition?" Did you take that into consideration that you were dismissing what could be more than 50 years of tradition?

LOHFifty years tradition that have -- in which we have thrived and they will always be part of our heritage. And we are proud of our years in the ACC. The bottom line is that the University of Maryland, unlike many other public institutions, athletics in Maryland is not, I repeat, not subsidized by the state. It is not paid by tuition. It all has to come from revenues that are generated by athletics is a self-sustaining operation.

LOHAs people well know, 95, 96 percent of division one programs lose money. And the only way that they don't cut teams is because they get into tuition or they have state appropriations. We do not. And as a consequence, when you have deficits, you have one of two choices. You can either expand revenue or you can make cuts. But you cannot keep kicking the can down the road. I stopped kicking the can down the road.

LOHWe made some cuts and we have dramatically increased the revenue to ensure the future of Maryland athletics, so that generations of Marylanders can have the opportunity to be athletes.

NNAMDIHow will membership in the Big Ten change the bottom line for the Maryland Athletic Department? What is the potential you see there for improving the financial situation of the athletic department?

LOHBecause entry into Big Ten is something that's negotiated and I have signed a confidentiality agreement, I cannot say how much it is. I can -- I can't say that the revenues that we will receive from the Big Ten and we are receiving now far exceeds, substantially exceed what we would have gotten if we had stayed in ACC. Sufficient to make this very painful move from one conference to the other.

LOHOne has to remember that a major source of revenue today in big-time athletics is not ticket receipts. It is television. And the Big Ten network reaches out to 80 million families, households in the nation. And it's in 30 different countries. That is the source of revenue. And, again, it strengthens, it guarantees the future of Maryland athletics, it enables us to support our student athletes much better not only on the field but in the classroom and to be successful in life.

NNAMDIObviously, there's advisers that you have, obviously there's a board of trustees. But is this a decision that you ultimately had to make yourself at some point?

LOHBeing the president of a flagship is the most political non-political job in the state. So, yes, you have to consult widely. But since it had to be under terms of confidentiality, I consulted with many people, but I had to keep the number small. So ultimately, I take full responsibility for the change. But I should say that public opinion has changed significantly since this happened two years ago.

LOHI can say that season ticket sales have been up by about 25 percent. That private fundraising, gifts to athletics have soared by 66 percent. It is up to approximately $9 million a year. And corporate partnerships have grown by about 25 percent as well.

NNAMDIGot to take a short break. When we come back we'll continue our conversation with University of Maryland President Wallace Loh. You can still call us, 800-433-8850. You can go to our website, kojoshow.org, ask a question, make a comment, and watch our live video stream. You can send email to kojo@wamu.org. Are you a Maryland alum? How has the school changed since you were there? What's your biggest concern about higher education today? 800-433-8850. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.

NNAMDIWelcome back. We're talking with Wallace Loh. He is president of the University of Maryland in College Park. I'm taking your calls at 800-433-8850. Or email to kojo@wamu.org. Let's go to Sarah, in College Park. Sarah, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

SARAHHi, Kojo. Hi, President Loh. I'm a graduate student at the School of Architecture currently at the University of Maryland. And I have a question about the branch library closures. So as the University of Maryland flagship school, and a future top 20 research university, it seems counterproductive that -- to begin closing the libraries in the individual schools of the university. The closings began over the summer and for the most part has been done quietly and under the radar of the student population. How will we compete with other university systems and expect more students and their tuition if we don't have the basic library infrastructure?

NNAMDISarah, allow me to add this email from Adam. "I'm a student at the University of Maryland. And I'm concerned about the closure of the Architecture Library. It was nearly closed without community feedback. And the closure has now been delayed until January. I know that some students' habits have changed and budgets are tight, but why close such a cherished university institutions like libraries, rather than try to adapt them? Is there a larger vision for a university system without libraries, Dr. Loh?"

LOHWell, Sarah, that's a very important question that you raise, which is the role of branch libraries on universities. We have been faced with some budget reductions that were issued to all units. And the heads of the different units, whether they're colleges or libraries or whatever, have to make decisions on how to meet those budget reductions. Having been at other universities where we were faced with similar issues, I've been personally involved in having to make decisions, for example, in closing a history department library, in closing a mathematics department library.

LOHAnd that raises important issues about the future of libraries. Libraries are increasingly no longer just places where books are stored because they're also accessible online. They also become places for communities to gather and meet. And those are factors that need to be taken into account in deciding whether or not to close a particular facility. Just bear in mind also that when we have had budget cuts in the past, we have closed entire academic departments.

LOHWe closed an entire school. Now, that doesn't mean that one should or should not close a particular library, but it should be an open process with extensive input by students and others.

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call. Here is Becky, in University Park, Md. Becky, your turn.

BECKYHi, Kojo. Hi, Dr. Loh. My husband and I are both graduates of the University of Maryland. And we stayed in College Park after we graduated. My husband went back to business school and I was a fundraiser for the university for many years. I'm not the president of an elementary school right around the corner from the university. And my question is about university's investment in the local public school system.

BECKYYou know, the charter school is one way that the university might invest, but there are so many other ways that we think the university could have huge impact on our local public school system. I'd like to know, you know, if you have any ideas in that direction or how might we, as a school system and parents, reach out to the university and encourage that investment?

LOHBecky, I think that a university, public university, especially with a land grant tradition, has to reach out and be partners with the surrounding community. Establishing a charter public school is only one way. Our college of education is actively involved. They are involved with the public schools. For example, the university's involved in providing teachers to teach Chinese at Paint Branch Elementary School.

LOHOur Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center goes out and does -- and involved students in the public schools of Prince George's County in arts activities and arts education, given the fact that so many arts programs have been cut in public schools. So our engagement is quite extensive and, yes, of course, we can always do more.

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call. We got an email from Jose, who says, "I met a very dynamic and motivated high school student who will be graduating next May. He wants to study engineering or medicine. He is undocumented and has qualified for the Dream Act and would like to apply to the University of Maryland. What grants or loans are available to this type of student?"

LOHWe have a wide range of grants and scholarships. And under the Maryland Dream Act, of course, he is certainly eligible to apply and to be considered for the wide range of financial support that's available. And I would suggest that he simply make a call and meet with people in our admissions office, in our financial aid office, both centrally and in the College of Engineering.

LOHI'm proud to say that among the really, really outstanding students that we have in the freshman class, and of course in previous years as well -- but we have set a record this year in terms of not just the quality and the talent level of our students, but also in terms of its diversity. We have 44 percent students of color in the freshman class.

NNAMDIIn the academic realm, one area in which Maryland aims to excel is cyber security. How are you building up cyber security research and education programs?

LOHOne of the ways we're building it -- and it's very much along the lines that the caller, Mark, talked about -- shrinking the size of the university. We have the nation's first and thus far the only honors undergraduate program in cyber security. And it is in partnership with Northrop Grumman, which has given us a very large grant. We just opened a state of the art residence hall, Prince Frederick. And there are currently about 200 students in that program. It will grow eventually to 300 or 350.

LOHAnd they live together, they eat together and they have a state of the art cyber security laboratory for offensive and defensive processes. So we're educating the next generation of cyber security experts to -- in partnership with industry. And we also have the Maryland Cyber Security Center. We have some of the foremost experts in that area on our faculty.

NNAMDIGot an email from Christopher, who said, "Last year there was a data breach at the University of Maryland, College Park. What has been done to insure this does not happen again? Why doesn't the University of Maryland, College Park, offer electronic transcripts when all other public Maryland schools offer this service? Has the data breach impacted this embrace of new technology?

LOHData breaches are now the scourge in this country. I mean virtually every single week one reads about another really major data breach. And we're not talking only about a few thousand, or 10 thousand, we're talking about millions of records, private information that is being hacked by cyber thieves, and many of them from abroad. What we have done is we formed a task force. We retained some of the top consultants in cyber security, as well as our own faculty.

LOHAnd what we have done is the following, we have identified all sources of private information. Secondly, after identifying, then we have purged that information if it's no longer necessary. If it is necessary we've built firewalls around them. In case those firewalls are breached, we have encrypted them or we're in the process of encrypting them. And in addition, we are monitoring our major networks. We have 50,000 -- I repeat 50,000 attempted penetrations or intrusions every single day.

LOHSo can there be absolute security? No. No institution can guarantee absolute security. But have we found a reasonable amount of due diligence that we can do and should do? And the answer is yes. And ultimately, cyber security, just like safety from sexual assaults, all of us must be responsible. This is not simply an issue of technological fixes. It's also an issue of personal attention. Don't, you know, allow fishing attempts to install malware in your computer.

NNAMDILast summer Maryland received the largest gift in the university's history from Brendan Iribe, an alum who founded a company called Oculus that makes virtual reality headsets. We tried one of those out on this broadcast. Facebook bought the company in July for $2 billion. And the Oculus founder gave $30 million for a new computer science building on campus. What are your plans for computer science and virtual reality?

LOHWell, we are very grateful for his gift. Also for the gift of some of his classmates and of his mother. And what's most remarkable is that the faculty of computer science also gave a million dollars. So that a total, in addition to Brendan Iribe, is close to $40 million dollars for an absolutely state of the art center on computer science and innovation. And the innovation includes people not just from computer science, but from the arts, from the social sciences and other disciplines, engineering, business -- in order to -- because his vision is not just to have classrooms and labs, but also to have hacker-maker spaces.

LOHThat is innovation incubators where teams of students from different disciplines come together and use that platform to create startup companies. He envisions and I believe this will happen, that there will be -- literally, this will be the epicenter for virtual reality, which is the next major transformation in mass communications. And all the startup companies will be in College Park.

NNAMDIAndrew, in Gaithersburg, Md. You're on the air, Andrew. Go ahead, please.

ANDREWYes. Hello. I'm sorry, give me one second, please.

NNAMDIThat's all we have, Andrew.

ANDREWCan you hear me? Yes. Two of my sons graduated with high honors, one a double major and another with a 4.0, went on to a full ride at Georgetown Law. However, my daughter really was hoping to go there for art and when we did the research we were somewhat disappointed in the state of the fine arts department and graphics and animation at College Park. So we opted to send her to MICA, in Baltimore. Can you address this issue, because we would really love to have her go to University of Maryland if it were possible because of our less strain on our -- us, financially.

LOHAndrew, I'm glad you raised that issue. I recently visited Pixar in California where several of our graduates are working. And of course they have a state of the art digital animation. And we are now, as a result, with their encouragement, we're going to start a major in digital media design, precisely to do the kind of computer graphics digital design that your daughter's seeking at MICA, which is a very, very fine school, and as you know, just outside of Baltimore, in Hunt Valley.

LOHThat's one of the major centers for video game design. And with the gift of Brendan Iribe and the establishment of the Center for Innovation in Computer Science, our hope is that there will be another dimension added to it, which is three-dimensional reality to video game design. But that's -- this is the future. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. And even though we have a very, very strong program in computer science, we don't yet have it in video game design, but that's where we plan to start a new program.

NNAMDIGot a post on our website from someone who says, "I'm on the faculty of the University of Maryland. Please ask the president by faculty and staff will once again have no merit or cost of living increases. And what are his plans for the arts and humanities at Maryland? What are his plans for the College of Arts and Humanities?"

LOHWell, we have gone for four years without any merit increases. Remember that we have recently, as a state, emerged from the great recession. These are tight times. We have economically suffered, just like all state employees have. But in the past two years we have reinstituted because -- salary increases come from the legislature.

NNAMDIYou only have about a minute left.

LOHAnd so they have been reinstituted. And arts and humanities are absolutely central to the mission of this university. We are not only a STEM institution on science, technology, engineering and math. We are a STEAM institution with the arts. And of course the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is an example of that commitment.

NNAMDIThis semester you opened the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, led by former Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser. I'm afraid we don't have time to go into any more detail because we're, well, out of time. Wallace Loh is president of the University of Maryland in College Park. Thank you so much for joining us.

LOHThank you, Kojo. It was a pleasure to be here.

NNAMDIAnd thank you all for listening. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.