PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — University of Maine at Presque Isle officials on Oct. 31 reported a 6.2 percent increase in enrollment by headcount, attributing the rise to its efforts to provide affordable options to out-of-state students and ease of access to Early College and adult learners.
“We’ve worked extremely hard in the last few years to ensure that we offer a wide range of courses and programs to meet our students where they’re at and in the ways that work for them to complete their studies,” UMPI President Ray Rice said. “I think the numbers we’re seeing this fall reflect those efforts and we couldn’t be happier to continue and expand such offerings to best meet our students’ needs.”
Campus officials said the increase is the largest within the University of Maine System from fall 2016 to fall 2017, with in-state student numbers up 4.9 percent and out-of-state numbers up 17.3 percent, due in large part to UMPI’s online, competency-based bachelor’s in business administration program, which welcomed 95 students in its first year. The $2,000-per-semester program was designed for adult learners with some college but no degree, and allows them to get college credit for their past learning and work experience. UMPI is the first public university in New England to offer such a CBE degree program.
The increase in out-of-state students was also aided by work the University did three years ago to reduce out-of-state tuition by 40 percent, a major savings for this student population and one that has attracted many out-of-state students, including a large number of scholar-athletes, to campus, Rice said.
In terms of dual-enrollment/Early College efforts, UMPI has produced more than 2,700 undergraduate credit hours, making it one of the state leaders. The campus primarily serves high schools within its geographic region, and Rice said UMPI sees these schools as “true K-16 partners,” especially the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, the state’s only public magnet school.
MSSM’s student body is unique in that the majority of it participates in dual-enrollment coursework over their career as students, he explained. Dual enrollment allows students to earn credit toward both a high school degree and a Bachelor’s degree for specific courses they take for a greatly reduced price; through its partnership with the State of Maine, UMPI is able to keep the direct costs that students pay to just $15 per credit, a savings of more than 90 percent over the traditional cost for a Maine resident attending UMPI this year.
“We see our Early College work as incredibly important in helping Maine high school students get a head start on their college experience — ensuring they’re prepared when they graduate and head off to college — while providing them with an incredibly affordable pathway toward a Bachelor’s degree,” Rice said. “Our job is to keep expanding these offerings, and bringing more efforts online, such as UMPI’s The Way It Should Be program, to ensure that our students make the transition from high school to college to a great job in Maine.”
During the past year, UMPI also experienced growth in credit-hour generation and full-time equivalent (FTE) numbers, which both rose 2 percent during the past year, and in transfer students, with the number increasing from 85 to 138, a 62 percent gain.
