In 1999, the Maryland General Assembly recast the University System of Maryland as a public corporation, thereby granting the USM the management flexibility it needed to pursue national eminence in a time of rapid changes in higher education. They are subject to applicable local, state, and federal laws and are required to follow standard financial accounting and reporting procedures. They are governed by their own boards of trustees, although their charters are granted and evaluated by the state's coordinating agency.
Charter colleges enjoy almost complete discretion in managing their administrative affairs.
For example, the authority to contract for services, finance and oversee capital projects, set salaries and titles for non-represented employees, set tuition rates, build and hold reserves for multiple years, establish foundations for the receipt of private gifts, and, in some instances, negotiate employee contracts with bargaining units or manage under a flexible sidebar to master agreements. The charter that details the institution's relationship with the state confirms the mission of the institution, the level of its educational programs, the funding agreement with the state, the specific management authority delegated to the college, and the educational and other results that are expected to be achieved within a fixed period of time. While the authors argue that the charter concept would be difficult to put in place across a major public higher education system, based on the above criteria it can be argued that the USM is already successfully operating a charter university system. Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research , White Paper No. 10, January 2000, p. vii.