Most University of Maine students have more than a week of winter break left before classes start up for the spring semester. But about 800 students — about 10 percent of the student body — are already in class.
Those students, more precisely, are completing online, three-week courses as part of the UMaine’s new winter session. The winter session is part of a welcome focus by the university on improving retention and graduation rates that have long been too low — too low for the sake of the students who don’t complete their studies, for UMaine and for the state’s economy.
That focus on boosting retention and graduation is Think 30, an effort to help UMaine students to complete a full course load of 30 credits each academic year and stay on track to graduate in four years.
The winter session is a chance for students who have fallen behind on credits to use an extended winter break to get back on track. (The winter session is heavy on introductory-level courses; students can enroll in only one for the term.) UMaine is building up summer course offerings in the same way. Think 30 also includes a public awareness campaign to encourage students to carry a full course load and make them aware of the cost of not doing so (in the form of added student debt and lost earnings).
In 2014, Provost Jeffrey Hecker released a retention and graduation action plan outlining a number of other steps to get more students to return for a second year, then stay on track to graduate. One step is deploying new course scheduling software to minimize scheduling conflicts that keep students from being able to enroll in classes they need to complete their majors. The plan also calls on student advisers to put a greater emphasis on student retention and more deliberate course scheduling.
In their first weeks at UMaine, the plans calls for the university to ensure every student has three points of contact who stay in touch and ensure students have what they need to stay enrolled and aren’t simply giving up. Another part of the plan includes an early-alert system to help advisers identify students at risk of failing first-semester courses and, ultimately, losing their way.
Over the past decade, 78 percent of students who started at UMaine as first-year students have, on average, returned for a second year. (UMaine’s institutional research office estimates 56 percent of those who didn’t return transferred to another institution while the remainder likely dropped their studies.)
The trickle-down continues over time. By the time four years have passed, only 36 percent of UMaine students have graduated. Within six years, UMaine’s average graduation rate in recent years is 58 percent, not unlike similar institutions around the country.
That means that of the 2,021 students who started as freshmen at UMaine in fall 2014, only 728 will likely have UMaine diplomas within four years; 1,172 within six years.
The in-state UMaine student who graduates in four years finishes school, on average, with about $22,000 in debt, according to the university. The student who finishes in six years comes out owing nearly $33,500 and having likely missed out on two years of full-time earnings. The student who doesn’t finish at all spends money on tuition, fees, room and board; builds up debt; and doesn’t come out with the benefit of a degree and related job prospects.
From a personal finance perspective, the case for boosting student retention and graduation is clear. For UMaine, every student who doesn’t return is a student who isn’t paying tuition. From an economic perspective, Maine — which lags the rest of New England in college attainment — can ill afford to lose its educational investment in a student who fails to attain a degree. Every college degree, in a state as small as Maine, is essential to the development of an educated workforce.
UMaine’s retention and graduation rates compare favorably with similar institutions’. But every student who starts college but doesn’t earn a degree represents lost potential. That’s why UMaine is on the right track with efforts to ensure more of its students stay in college and graduate in four years.
