Thomas College will see a 19 percent growth in new student enrollment this fall.
The Waterville college joins a handful of higher education institutions bucking a nationwide trend of falling enrollment as the third post-pandemic fall semester begins.
In addition to a surge in new students coming to campus, Thomas College has exceeded its recent average for retaining first-year students. About 77 percent will return this fall, up from the three-year average of 70 percent and exceeding the previous record of 74 percent, according to a spokesperson.
There’s been a similar surge in growth in enrollment in Thomas College’s online graduate program, which is 48 percent greater than last year. The college moved its graduate program online in response to the pandemic, and that program’s growth was attributed to undergraduates moving right into graduate studies and teachers returning to start or finish their degrees, Thomas College Chief Operating Officer Todd Smith said Wednesday.
“COVID taught us that strategy and following a plan is crucial to success. We are obviously on the other side of those difficult times and back on track,” Smith said. “Our community is growing and thriving. It’s a great time to be a Thomas College Terrier.”
On Tuesday, the University of New England in Biddeford announced it will welcome its largest-ever incoming class, with 850 new students joining the campus this fall.
The Maine Community College System will see a 12 percent surge in enrollment this fall. That’s largely driven by a new scholarship that gives Maine high schoolers two free years of community college because of hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 42 percent of incoming students in the Maine Community College System qualified for that scholarship.
The University of Maine System, however, has suffered from declining enrollment despite a higher volume of applications in the spring. Enrollment at the system’s seven campuses is down 15 percent this fall, while the study body has seen an overall 5.7 percent decline.