Maine high school students wanting to get a head start on college can now turn career-aligned “microcredits” earned through the Jobs for Maine’s Graduates program into college credit at Maine’s public universities.
The collaboration, announced this week, will enable University of Maine System schools to award up to eight college credits for mastery of high-demand skills, including financial and digital literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership development.
“This historic agreement between Maine’s public universities and Jobs for Maine Graduates program will strengthen aspirations, access and degree attainment while reducing student debt and time to a door-opening college degree and a meaningful, good-paying career,” said University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy.
Maine has set a goal of having 70% of working-age adults hold postsecondary credentials by 2035, and the state has made progress, thanks in large part to public universities expanding college access through early college, direct and guaranteed admissions, online offerings and adult degree completion initiatives.
Still, just over 55% of Mainers hold what are ranked as high-value credentials: skills such as leadership, communication and judgment.
Putting college ‘within reach’
While the new arrangement marks the first time Maine’s public universities have agreed to accept microcredentials for college credit, the evaluation process is consistent with that already used to award credit for prior learning through work and military experience.
“We’re the oldest state in the country, and we need more young people to stay and build careers here,” said Kimberley Acker Lipp, president and CEO of Jobs for Maine’s Graduates. “Now a student can graduate high school having already earned eight college credits. That changes the math for a 16-year-old who is considering whether college is within reach.”
Workforce readiness
Over the past decade, Maine’s public universities have awarded more than 60,000 degrees and certificates in majors most aligned with the state’s workforce needs, including business, education, health care, liberal arts and engineering and computing.
The partnership with Jobs for Maine’s Graduates comes on top of early college programs that serve thousands of Maine high school students annually.
More than 40% of system undergraduates are considered first-generation students and their bachelor’s degree attainment rate is more than double the national average for this population.
Jobs for Maine’s Graduates is a statewide nonprofit that serves more than 13,000 students annually across all 16 Maine counties, through close to 150 programs embedded in public schools, career and technical education centers and postsecondary institutions.
