The Erickson School of Aging Studies breaks new ground by connecting the brainpower of a leading research university with the practical expertise and knowledge of seniors housing and aging services leaders nationwide. Established through a visionary gift from Erickson Retirement Communities' founder and CEO John Erickson, the School provides executive development, public policy leadership, and applied and investigative research related to senior care and aging. Future plans also include the establishment of specialty degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
UMBC, ranked in the top tier of U.S. research universities by the Carnegie Foundation, serves nearly 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its Baltimore, Maryland campus and is one of a handful of universities in the nation offering the Ph.D. in Gerontology. Faculty and students collaborate regularly with business and government, linking the campus with the abundant seniors housing, healthcare and health policy resources in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, including the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, the U.S. Administration on Aging, the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industries, and each of the major industry trade associations.
University faculty associated with the Erickson School are experts on housing for the elderly and long-term care and include a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, and a Fulbright Scholar.