A formal count of students confirmed that the affordability of Maine’s public universities, relevant new academic programs and direct admissions offers that are ‘impossible to pass up’ driving undergraduate, transfer, graduate and law enrollment increases
ORONO — The University of Maine System remains the state’s leading driver of degree attainment and economic mobility, with official data released showing increased undergraduate, graduate and law student enrollment.
A formal Systemwide census taken on Oct. 15 confirmed preliminary enrollment improvements generally consistent with what UMS projected at the start of the semester.
There are 25,286 students enrolled this fall, an increase of 3.1 percent or 763 more learners compared to last year, and 40 percent of them are 25 or older. These figures do not include the nearly 5,300 Maine high school students earning free early college credit through UMS this fall, or those participating in non-credit-bearing educational programs.
“Our strong enrollment numbers show that Mainers of all ages increasingly recognize the unmatched value proposition of our public universities,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “I am proud of the collective efforts across our System to ensure the state’s most proven path to upward mobility is accessible, affordable and relevant for all learners. As more students, families and policymakers are realizing, there is no better return on investment than a University of Maine System education.”
Undergraduate headcount is now more than 20,000 students, the first year-over-year increase in at least two decades. The number of undergraduate transfers increased by 23.6 percent, or 504 students, from last fall. That’s largely due to the popularity of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s online competency-based YourPace program, which has led to a doubling of that rural institution’s enrollment over the past five years, and strengthened transfer pathways from Maine’s community colleges, which sent 714 students to UMS this fall, a 30.8 percent increase. After UMPI, the University of Southern Maine led the System in the overall number of transfers (511 students), an 11.8 percent increase.
Meanwhile, there are a record 4,965 graduate students enrolled, an increase of 4.8 percent compared to last year and 16.6 percent more than five years ago. Since 2020, the University of Maine, the University of Maine at Augusta, the University of Maine at Farmington, and USM have all seen meaningful graduate enrollment gains in majors like counseling, cybersecurity, engineering and computing, education and social work. New graduate programs in high-need fields like nursing at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and business at UMPI have realized rapid growth.
Included in graduate enrollment data are the 742 students pursuing doctoral degrees at UMaine, USM and UMFK — up 7.5 percent compared to last year and 30.2 percent from five years ago. That increase is important given the demand for professionals with doctorates in the state’s knowledge and innovation economy, and because Ph.D. production will be among the primary factors used to determine whether UMaine remains an R1 institution when the Carnegie Classification is updated in 2025.
The University of Maine School of Law, the state’s only law school, has 277 students, an increase of 18 students from five years ago.
Maine’s public universities are not only welcoming more students but also seeing those students taking more courses — a reflection of the accessibility and relevance of UMS academic offerings. Credit hours, which correlate to tuition revenue, are up 3.8% for undergraduates and 7.2 percent for graduate students and 40% are now delivered through technology including to place-bound and working adults.
The System is Maine’s strongest magnet for new talent. More than 8,300 students from outside of the state are enrolled this fall, advancing the workforce attraction goals in Maine’s 10-year economic strategy. According to a recent survey by UMaine, which leads UMS in out-of-state enrollment, 34 percent of those who come to Orono to study now stay in Maine to live and work after graduating.
Defying regional, national trends through affordability, innovation
Maine’s public universities are outpacing regional and national enrollment trends, despite the state having the oldest population in the country and competition from better-resourced public and private peers.
For example, innovation in UMS enrollment led to an 8.2 percent increase in first-time degree-seeking undergraduate students, while among four-year public institutions nationally, there was an 8.5% decrease during that same period according to preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
As fewer Maine high school graduates pursue postsecondary education despite employers wanting more workers with four-year degrees, UMS has begun directly admitting Maine high school students who were successful in its early college programs.
The System has also maintained region-leading affordability. According to publicly available information, UMaine’s FY25 in-state credit hour rate is 40 percent less than the average cost of the R1 flagships in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut — the states that sent the most students to Maine this fall — while the out-of-state undergraduate credit hour rate is 25 percent lower.
The System is additionally helping students connect to careers earlier, with hands-on experiential learning and internships with the state’s employers thanks to support from the Harold Alfond Foundation (UMS TRANSFORMS) and Gov. Janet Mills’ Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan.
Those efforts are paying off for students, System enrollment and the state’s workforce.
“College was always a goal of mine, but it was difficult to decide which one. Receiving the offer for direct admission to the University of Maine felt like a weight off my chest,” said Maddison Jackson, an animal and veterinary science major from Presque Isle who is part of UMaine’s first-year class of more than 2,000 students — its largest since 2021. “The biggest factor for me was cost and the offer I received from UMaine was impossible to pass up. While this was not my first choice, I am so glad now that I chose UMaine to take my first step toward my dream career of being a veterinarian.”
“Through the early college program, I was able to experience what being a student at the University of Southern Maine was like while I was still in high school. Based on the quality of those courses and USM’s affordability and flexibility, continuing my education there made sense to me and my family,” said Joseph Herlihy, a commuter student from Falmouth who is majoring in technology management, minoring in psychology and working part-time. “The direct admissions program allowed me to avoid the hassle of college applications and streamlined my enrollment to USM. It has absolutely been the right choice and thanks to the credits I earned in high school, I already have achieved sophomore standing.”
Largely because of the System’s success, Maine led all reporting states in having the largest increase in graduate enrollment this fall compared to last year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Undergraduate growth at UMS (2.7 percent) also outpaced that in the Northeast (0.9%) as well as the national average for four-year public institutions (2.2 percent).
UMaine remains the largest university in the System, with 10,870 students, followed by USM (6,257) and UMA (3,034). UMPI now has the fourth-highest enrollment, with 2,171 students followed by UMF (1,614), UMFK (770), the University of Maine at Machias (293), and Maine Law (277).
The System’s transparent Fall 2024 enrollment report is publicly available here and will be presented to the Board of Trustees at their Nov. 18 meeting in Orono.
