The University of Maine System will make more financial aid awards to graduate students on a “rolling basis” for the coming year.
The UMaine System will honor those existing commitments and make new offers with a priority for those that “align with institutional operational needs,” according to the Portland Press Herald.
That comes after the system announced in March that it was freezing teaching, research and fellowship offers amid an uncertain funding landscape.
The Maine Legislature advanced a budget that maintained flat funding for the public university system through 2027. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been making cuts across the federal government. In making the announcement in March, the university system said that the Trump administration had been slow to make new grant awards while others remained frozen.
The UMaine Graduate Workers Union criticized the system’s move, saying it threatened UMaine’s R1 research institution status.
The university system said it currently has its highest-ever graduate enrollment, with 6,999 students. The system has seen a 17.6 percent increase in graduate enrollment over the past five years.
