In the 1980s, propelled by a $1 million Maryland State Challenge Grant, Capitol College launched an aggressive development campaign expanding and retooling its academic programs to work even more closely with industry and alumni to meet the changing needs of the increasingly technological society. These funds allowed the school to buy 52 acres of land in Laurel, Maryland. The Laurel campus opened in 1983, offering new programs in computer engineering technology and telecommunications engineering technology.

The Board of Trustees voted to change the school's name to Capitol College in 1987 to reflect the increased breadth and diversity of its programs. Soon after, in a continuing effort to meet both student needs and those of a technical workforce, Capitol College established a graduate school and began offering its first courses via the Internet. With each stage of growth and change, the marketplace has responded enthusiastically as more than 90 percent of the college's graduates have found immediate, professional-level employment in their chosen fields each year.