The University of Maine System has started the year with its largest spring enrollment in eight years.
Propelling overall enrollment growth is a 40% year-over-year increase in the number of University of Maine at Presque Isle students learning via the YourPace online degree and certificate programs.
UMPI is now the system’s third-largest university by headcount, with more than 3,000 students enrolled — a nearly threefold increase from 2022.
Overall, Maine’s public universities are seeing expansion in health care, engineering and education programs. Over the past five years, UMaine has seen growth in undergraduate and graduate areas aligned with state workforce needs, including engineering and computing, business administration and psychology.
More than 24,500 students are enrolled systemwide — the most since 2019 and a 1.7% increase from spring 2025. Credit hours have increased as well, by 2.6%, a measure of more students taking more courses.
More than 1,500 Maine high school students are earning no-cost postsecondary credit through the system’s early college programs — a decline from prior years due to funding constraints.
Other campuses
Public universities in Farmington and Fort Kent are reporting their highest spring semester enrollment since 2021.
Professional studies, teacher preparation and early childhood education programs are driving UMF’s spring enrollment rebound, while UMFK’s online and hybrid graduate nursing programs, launched in 2023, now enroll more than 150 students.
UMF has also attracted new students in signature programs via the YourPace online platform in partnership with UMPI. UMFK will launch programs through YourPace this year.
At the University of Maine at Augusta, more students are pursuing associate and master’s degrees. The advanced degree growth at UMA is led by a master’s program in whole child education launched last year, and an increase in master’s enrollment in trauma-informed emergency management.
Maine Law and USM
The University of Maine School of Law has reached its highest spring enrollment and was recently ranked among the nation’s top law schools.
The University of Southern Maine has more than doubled its doctoral student enrollment over the past five years and experienced significant growth in undergraduate and graduate education and counselor education fields, along with cybersecurity and marketing programs.
