As the System strives to double its online offerings, Trustees approved six new degree programs that will be entirely online and leverage existing faculty and unified accreditation to provide working adults with flexible pathways to advancement in high-demand career fields
ORONO — University of Maine System Trustees approved six new online degree programs that will grow the Maine workforce and access to affordable, high-quality degree programs and career advancement in high-demand fields, including early childhood education, human services, medical laboratory science and homeland security.
The University of Maine, the UMS Board of Trustees approved the following new degree programs, all of which will be offered entirely online so they are accessible to busy working adults:
- Bachelor of science in early childhood education (University of Maine at Presque Isle)
- Bachelor of science in medical laboratory science (University of Maine at Augusta and UMPI)
- Master of science in homeland security (University of Maine at Fort Kent)
- Master of arts in American studies (UMPI)
- Associate of arts in human services (UMPI)
- Associate of arts in early childhood education (UMPI)
UMPI’s new associate and bachelor’s degree programs in early childhood education will launch later this fall with existing faculty and courses and be delivered through its competency-based YourPace platform, which allows learners to advance as they demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills.
As part of a coordinated System effort to solve critical childcare shortages statewide that are limiting parents’ participation in the workforce, UMPI’s new degrees will provide a 2+2 option for Northern Maine Community College students and complement existing high-quality UMS early childhood education offerings. These are led by the University of Maine at Farmington, which offers in-person early childhood education undergraduate programs on campus, a blended (in-person and online) undergraduate program at Southern Maine Community College, a blended master’s program and an apprenticeship pathway. Early childhood education concentrations and certificates are additionally available through UMaine and UMA.
“The Board appreciates that our public universities are being creative in building upon their signature strengths and existing resources to meet educational and employer needs in the state. As more online options emerge in our System, the Board discussed the need to avoid competition and maximize cooperation among our UMS universities, and that will be an ongoing focus of our review and approval of new programs in the future,” said Trustee Chair Trish Riley.
“While no single institution has the capacity to fully address the state’s workforce needs, by partnering across Maine’s public universities and leveraging the tools of technology and our innovative unified accreditation, the University of Maine System is the state’s leading source of talent and opportunity,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “These new online programs reflect our collective commitment to advancing Mainers’ upward mobility and our state’s workforce and economy through affordable, flexible pathways to in-demand degrees.”
Consistent with that increasingly collaborative approach to expanding career pathways and the workforce, starting next fall, UMPI and UMA will jointly offer an online bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science for students who have already earned an associate degree in medical laboratory technology, including through an existing UMA/UMPI partnership.
The new degree pathway provides an opportunity for both traditional students and adults already working in the health care field to increase their technical knowledge and skills, employability and earnings. It will be the first online MTL-to-MLS program in the Northeast that does not require prior work experience or a clinical practicum, as students will have already had that hands-on learning in their associate program.
There is a national shortage of medical laboratory professionals, also known as clinical laboratory technologists, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the profession will have about 24,000 openings annually.
Another collaborative offering will address the immediate and growing need for more human services professionals in the state to provide in-demand behavioral health services. While UMFK currently offers an associate human services degree in-person and online, they will now partner with UMPI to also offer a competency-based version through YourPace, co-taught by faculty from both institutions. The two County-based UMS universities additionally plan to develop YourPace human services bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in the near future.
UMPI’s new master’s of American studies will similarly be competency-based and delivered through YourPace.
UMFK’s new online homeland security master’s degree also builds on its existing education and career pathways, including for those who have earned undergraduate degrees at the System’s northernmost university in criminal justice and conservation law enforcement.
When it launches in January, UMFK will offer the most affordable homeland security master’s degree program in the nation and position its graduates to advance their careers in emergency preparedness and response, border and transportation security, infrastructure protection, information analysis, homeland defense and emergency management. According to BLS data, these aligned occupations are expected to grow five times faster than the national average for all occupations, with 116,800 annual openings across the country.
UMFK will deliver seven of the required courses, while UMA will teach three others.
System goal to double online programs by 2028
The new programs approved by Trustees are just the latest to be cleared to launch as part of a broader UMS effort established in its strategic plan released in 2023 to double fully online academic offerings by 2028. The System now offers more than 200 programs that can be completed entirely online.
Online programs are more accessible to place-bound students and busy working adults, including the estimated 200,000 Mainers with some college but no door-opening degree, and learners who live outside of the state.
While UMS universities, including UMA and the University of Southern Maine, have long had a distance education focus, expanded online programming has rebounded enrollment at rural institutions. Though a formal count of students will not occur until October, at the start of this fall semester, more than one-third of UMS students were fully online and more than two-thirds were at least partially online.
Through the widely popular YourPace, UMPI’s total enrollment has increased nearly threefold in the last five years, and 80% of its students are accessing their education entirely online. Mostly because of new online nursing programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level, 55% of UMFK students are now fully online. And at UMF, which has newly embraced distance education, 29% of students are fully online, compared to just 13% five years ago during the pandemic.
Even if fully online students never visit Maine’s public universities, their enrollment ensures these small campuses remain available to those in the surrounding communities who do rely on them for education, enrichment and employment.
