ORONO, Maine — Maine’s flagship campus expects its incoming class of first-year students to dwarf its predecessor thanks in large part to its success attracting applicants from other states.
As of earlier this week, 2,447 students planned to join the University of Maine’s Class of 2020 and had paid the $150 deposit to secure a spot — a 22 percent increase over last year. By comparison, at last year’s May 1 deadline, 2,012 prospective students had paid that fee.
It’s great news for the university, which built its budget for next year expecting just 2,200 incoming freshmen, according to Provost Jeffrey Hecker.
Why such a dramatic jump?
Late last year, as students across the nation began to decide where to apply for college, UMaine announced the launch of its new flagship match program.
The concept was unique among public higher education institutions in the region. Normally, a student from out of state pays significantly higher tuition rates at Maine’s public universities than students who call Maine home.
The flagship match targeted students from other New England states, offering them the chance to come to UMaine while paying the same tuition and fees they would have paid had they stayed home and attended the flagship campus in their own state.
For example, a student coming to UMaine from Massachusetts would pay the UMass Amherst price of $14,356 instead of UMaine’s out-of-state rate of $28,880 — a $14,500 savings.
Massachusetts is sending more freshmen to Maine than any other state. Of the 1,123 new out-of-state students committing to UMaine, the commonwealth is responsible for 518. That’s an 80 percent increase from 286 Massachusetts residents who had applied to UMaine this time last year.
Even with the discount, the move makes economic sense for UMaine, as in-state students pay just $10,616 in tuition and fees.
“They’re still paying quite a bit more than a student from Maine would be paying,” Hecker said.
Connecticut came in second to Massachusetts with 122 commitments, followed by New Hampshire with 102, New Jersey with 71, Vermont with 39 and Pennsylvania with 31. Those numbers represent a 30 to 40 percent increase from each state, with the exception of Vermont.
The unusual program drew attention from national media and attracted eyes to UMaine.
The spike in enrollment isn’t just about about the match program, however, according to Hecker.
“This is part of a much larger marketing and recruiting effort,” he said.
Hecker said UMaine’s admissions standards have not slackened, and that out-of-state enrollment standards may be ramped up in future years depending on how enrollment trends and this crop’s performance pans out.
Define tomorrow
In the past year, UMaine changed its approach to marketing. It launched the “Define Tomorrow” campaign, a series of fast-paced television advertisements featuring copious aerial shots of the campus and Maine’s outdoors, as well as cameos by well-known UMaine alumni.
The ads have been broadcast throughout New England at strategic times of year, Hecker said.
The university also ramped up its visits to guidance counselors and college fairs across the region.
Maine Matters
Part of the reason UMaine has been courting students from away is the continued decline in the number of graduating Maine high schoolers.
Still, UMaine managed a smaller but still significant 3 percent increase in its number of committed in-state first-year students after years of decline.
The “Maine Matters” program aims to convince some of the 10 percent of Maine students who are accepted to UMaine but decide to go to another New England land grant school from leaving the state. The program promises to match a financial aid offer Maine students receive from any other New England land grant so the net cost of choosing UMaine is the same or lower.
Progress overall
UMaine isn’t alone in making progress toward boosting class sizes. Across the seven-campus system, first-year commitments are up 16 percent over this time last year, from 3,370 to 3,897, despite the persistent decline in Maine students to draw from.
The University of Southern Maine finally has some good news after years of budget struggles, layoffs and declining enrollments. It saw a 16 percent increase in “new student” commitments, including an additional 49 first-year students and 83 more transfer students.
“USM plays a huge role in being a pathway of continuation for Maine learners who start somewhere else and turn to USM to ultimately earn their degrees,” UMS spokesman Dan Demeritt said of the influx of transfer students.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.