How Maine’s public universities reversed years of declining enrollment

The University of Maine at Orono campus. (Photo by University of Maine)

Maine’s public universities are expecting an enrollment increase after four years of declining student populations, predominantly due to increased flexibility and remote learning options the system now offers that have attracted large numbers of non-traditional and transfer students.

Early fall estimates indicate a system-wide 5 percent increase compared with last year, according to the latest count taken a week before the fall semester starts. This means the system has enrolled 1,200 more students across Maine’s public universities this fall, and the numbers are expected to increase over the next week, according to Chancellor Dannel Malloy.

Undergraduate student enrollment across the system increased by 700 compared with last year, and graduate student enrollment by more than 300, according to Samantha Warren, spokesperson for the university system.

Partially due to agreements with the community college system, Maine’s public universities also plan to enroll the highest number of transfer students in a decade: 2,300 undergraduate transfer students, which is a 39 percent increase from last year.

More than 650 of those students are transferring from community colleges in Maine, a number that administrators expect will only increase in upcoming years after the announcement of a joint guaranteed admission initiative by the two higher education institutions last month.

“We have an emphasis on reaching out to people who have some amount of college experience but may never have completed a baccalaureate degree and we’re seeing lots of those folks come back now, because we make it easier,” Malloy said, explaining one reason for the enrollment increase.

“Instead of delivering our courses in one modality, we’re doing a much better job of understanding that people have children, they have a job, they can’t come to a campus,” he added. “We’re offering those programs, I think, better than anyone else in the state.”

Another reason for the system-wide increase is the lower cost of tuition at Maine universities compared to any other New England state, Malloy said. The average out-of-state tuition and required fees per year for public institutions was just over $30,000 in 2022-23, based on National Center for Education Statistics data . That’s at least $3,000 cheaper than any other New England state, but slightly higher than the national average.

But because of four years of declines, total enrollment numbers at most University of Maine System campuses still remain lower than the 2020 or 2021 school years. That’s consistent with nationwide trends of declining enrollment at higher education institutions. The one exception is the Presque Isle campus, which has attracted hundreds of non-traditional students by offering a rapidly growing remote online program for adult learners, exceeding its 2020 enrollment.

Asynchronous online courses doubled in enrollment

In 2020, UMPI started offering its fully remote, online degree and certification program called YourPace, for students that are over 20 years old and have some college credits. YourPace allows them to finish their degrees or certificates on an entirely asynchronous schedule — which means they can log into a learning portal and watch pre-recorded class videos and have access to course materials and assignments on their own time.

The program went from 136 students in 2020 to more than 1,400 new and returning students enrolled for this upcoming year, according to President Ray Rice. Some students are in Maine, but there are many enrolled nationwide and even internationally, he said.

The university has responded to the growing demand by offering many more courses and specialities, and a fully remote masters degree. This fall, almost 1,000 students are enrolled for the first of the two eight-week sessions offered during the fall semester, according to Rice.

“Covid just changed the dynamic, and people realized that if they were ready to enroll in a program, they didn’t want to have to wait on the calendar of a two- or four-year cycle at most institutions to get all the courses you need,” he said. “So here, because literally, every course is offered every day of the year, a student can make progress whenever, at whatever the level they come in with in terms of their transfer credit from other institutions.”

The reason for the program’s success is because it allows people to learn on their own timelines, he said.

“Wherever you are, you have equal access to anybody else, whether in the state of Maine or particularly internationally,” he said. “I just think it’s a game changer for the state, and for the entire system.”

Universities turning around declining trends through local partnerships

Enrollment at the University of Maine at Farmington is set to increase for the first time since 2017 due to a dramatic increase in transfer students and partnerships with school districts that allow degree-seeking adults to complete teacher certifications, according to President Joe McDonnell.

The university’s graduate programs for education and counseling have also seen a 20 percent increase this year, he said.

The adult completion program allows working professionals, such as Ed Techs, to finish their degrees or certifications. It has grown from 48 students last year to 144 students this year, the majority of whom are pursuing education degrees.

Partnerships with area school districts, which subsidize costs for adult learners through various teacher programs, have been key for the enrollment increase, McDonnell said.

Enrollment increases are pivotal for small universities like UMF to keep offering a wide range of courses to students, he explained.

“We are a small university, which is part of the character of the place. In other words, students come because they enjoy the personal touch that you get at a small university,” he said. “But we can’t get too small that we become fiscally not viable.”

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