Whether they’re launching a startup during their first semester, advising executives through consulting projects, competing on a national stage or collaborating with business leaders abroad, students at the University of Maine’s Maine Business School spend their education solving real business challenges.
Together, the Maine Business School and the Graduate School of Business create a continuous pathway from undergraduate education to graduate study, preparing students — from first-year undergraduates to working professionals pursuing an MBA — to make an impact from their very first day on the job.
Through entrepreneurship, consulting projects, national competitions, immersive travel experiences and graduate study, students gain the practical experience, professional relationships and global perspective that today’s employers value.
For Maine employers and communities, that means access to graduates who are both Maine-rooted and globally informed — professionals who understand the state’s economy, bring fresh ideas from around the world and are prepared to help build Maine’s next chapter.
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is woven into the fabric of the Maine Business School and the MaineMBA program, not treated as an optional addon. From their first year, students are expected to move beyond textbooks into situations where real stakes and real partners are involved. They learn to tackle openended problems, communicate with executives, and deliver recommendations that create real impact for organizations.
That experience begins immediately.
In their first semester at UMaine, business students dive into the world of entrepreneurship, creating their own micro-businesses as part of their Intro to Business class. From concept to execution, students are expected to put their side hustles into practice.
Each December, these first-year students compete in a Shark Tank-style pitch competition before a panel of judges for scholarship funds.
“Competing in Shark Tank gave me a ton of confidence,” says first-year student Ryan Fernstrom. “It showed me it’s possible. If you have an idea, you can make it real.”
Fernstrom’s experience reflects the entrepreneurial mindset the competition is designed to foster.
“This exercise demystifies entrepreneurship and public speaking, teaching students that good ideas are only as strong as their ability to articulate them clearly and respond to questions under pressure,” says Dr. Jason Harkins, Executive Dean of the Maine Business School and Dean of the Graduate School of Business. “Many participants leave the experience with a new sense of possibility—seeing themselves not just as successful students, but as emerging entrepreneurs.”
Those entrepreneurial experiences lay the foundation for increasingly complex, client-based projects throughout students’ time at UMaine.
MBS undergraduate and graduate students strengthen their consulting skills through coursework that partners them directly with organizations across Maine and beyond. Businesses turn to students for fresh perspectives on pressing challenges, while students gain firsthand experience working with real clients and presenting recommendations to company leaders.
Partnerships with recognizable regional brands such as Bath Iron Works, Wyman’s and Aroma Joe’s, as well as innovative startups like Viable Gear and TEMO USA, anchor experiential learning in the realities of Maine’s economy.
In one recent project, students worked with Aroma Joe’s to improve processes for opening new stores, third-party delivery operations, and the implementation of AI. Their recommendations gave the company new perspectives while giving students firsthand experience working with a fast-growing business with Maine roots.
Across these and other consulting projects, the pattern is consistent: students become problemsolvers and trusted advisors while companies benefit from fresh ideas.
“Students are challenged to think critically, collaborate effectively and communicate with a professional audience,” says Dr. Buffie McCue-Quinn, an MBS faculty member who has led several undergraduate consulting classes at the Maine Business School. “The most rewarding part is watching them realize they are capable of solving complex business problems.”
Students in the World
If experiential learning grounds students in the realities of Maine’s business landscape, travel and competition experiences broaden that perspective by exposing them to new industries, markets and cultures.
Students have traveled to places such as Boston, Chicago, New York City, Montreal, Italy and England, engaging directly with professionals, companies and organizations in fields ranging from finance and destination marketing to sports, tourism, and economic development.
Just a day’s drive from Orono, students explored international business in bilingual Montreal. Through Bear Treks in Boston, they connected with financial firms, global education and travel providers, and marketing groups, while trips to Chicago immersed them in the professional sports industry, connecting classroom lessons with the realities inside stadiums and front offices.
In New York City, the University of Maine’s Student Portfolio Investment Fund team, SPIFFY, earned third place at the 2026 Quinnipiac GAME Forum, demonstrating that Maine students can compete successfully on a national stage. Members of the UMaine chapter of the American Marketing Association have also traveled to Chicago and New Orleans, participating in competitions that challenged them to solve real problems under tight deadlines, blending creativity with datadriven decisionmaking.
At the graduate level, MaineMBA students have also taken their studies abroad in ways that connect global ideas back to Maine’s economy. In the United Kingdom, a group of MaineMBA students studied Sustainable Ecosystem Economic Development through coursework, research and an international experiential trip led by faculty. Their visits with government officials, business leaders and nonprofit leaders explored how outdoor industries, culture, heritage and nature-based tourism can support thriving rural communities — lessons with clear relevance for Maine.
Together, these experiences prepare students to work confidently across industries, cultures and markets while reinforcing that Maine’s economy is part of a larger national and global marketplace.
Flexibility and Connection
As both emerging and established professionals look to deepen their expertise, the MaineMBA provides a flexible, highimpact pathway for advanced business education.
The new LowResidency MaineMBA, launching this fall, combines the accessibility of online learning with meaningful in-person engagement through periodic inperson sessions, offering a rigorous graduate education that allows students to continue advancing their careers while earning their degree.
The cohort-based program combines asynchronous online coursework with three required multi-day residencies held at the Maine Center in Portland’s Old Port. Students begin with Foundations of Teamwork and Leadership and conclude with the MaineMBA Academy, the program’s capstone course. Throughout the curriculum, they participate in real-world consulting projects with regional businesses, leadership development and other high-impact learning experiences that connect coursework directly to practice.
Built in response to growing demand from professionals seeking career advancement while working full time, the program emphasizes flexibility without sacrificing collaboration, networking or facetoface learning.
“The Low-Residency MaineMBA enables us to deliver a rigorous, applied graduate education that fits the realities of working professionals,” says Andrew King, Director of the MaineMBA. “Through a thoughtful mix of online learning and immersive, in-person experiences, students gain the skills, perspective, and relationships needed to lead in a rapidly evolving economy. Those connections will fuel individual careers while creating lasting value for Maine and beyond.”
Whether they begin by launching a business during their first semester or return later in their careers to earn a MaineMBA, University of Maine graduates leave having already practiced solving the kinds of business challenges they will encounter throughout their careers. That combination of hands-on experience, professional relationships and global perspective prepares them to make an immediate impact — whether they build their careers in Maine or wherever their careers take them.
