UMaine System will guarantee admission to Maine's community college grads
Photo / Courtesy, Kari Herer Photography
Gov. Janet Mills looks on as David Daigler, right, president of the Maine Community College System, and Dannel Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System, sign the transfer agreement.
Under a new agreement, Maine's seven public universities will now guarantee admission to graduates of the state’s seven community colleges.
The community colleges will also proactively notify their students about direct transfer pathways to Maine’s public universities and will provide coordinated advising services.
The Transfer ME agreement between the state’s two public higher education systems was signed Thursday by David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, and Dannel Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System.
“Maine employers need more workers with postsecondary credentials and this seamless transfer will help to ensure that more Mainers will benefit from postsecondary education and also increase the size and skills of Maine’s workforce,” said Carlos Mello, CEO of Finance Authority of Maine.
The agreement allows MCCS graduates to transfer to a Maine public university of their choice without filling out an application, paying application fees or providing essays, recommendation letters and transcripts.
“What students want and need is a clear-cut, simple route to a four-year degree, without a lot of paperwork and barriers,” said Daigler. “This agreement does just that.”
The program aims to remove barriers to opportunity, said Malloy.
The University of Maine System has long accepted transfers from the Maine Community College System. The difference now is that, instead of waiting for outreach from MCCS students, the university system will reach out to MCCS students and provide “a well-paved pathway” to entry.
“We think this will be a real game-changer in raising awareness, aspirations and access to affordable, door-opening bachelor’s degree programs and upward mobility,” said Malloy.
The partnership is designed to make it easier for MCCS graduates to continue pursuing their education at one of Maine’s public universities, said Gov. Janet Mills.
Notification will begin this fall to qualifying students who have earned at least 30 community college credits and are enrolled in eligible degree programs, including behavioral health, biotechnology, business, education, hospitality, human services, psychology and pre-engineering.
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History of cooperation
The Transfer ME agreement is the latest step in the state’s push to advance postsecondary education access and affordability and to strengthen the size and skill of the state’s workforce, according to a news release.
In 2022, MCCS launched a free tuition program, which is funded for graduates or the equivalent in the high school classes of 2020-25. Since its launch, MCCS's annual enrollment has increased by 20%. It also led to the first year-over-year increase in the number of MCCS students transferring to Maine’s public universities since before the pandemic.
Maine’s community colleges are already a source of transfer students to the university system. In 2023-24, 737 students from community colleges transferred, compared to 681 the previous year.
Transfer ME is the first system-to-system agreement of its kind in the state. But the two systems have a history of working together. For example, Southern Maine Community College and the University of Southern Maine have long partnered to make it easier for students to transition between the two institutions.
Earlier this year, the University of Maine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias, and MCCS formalized a co-enrollment program called Black Bear Advantage.
The agreement builds on the state’s Free Community College initiative, which has enabled thousands of students to attend community college at little or no cost; and on more than 180 existing articulation agreements that allow community college graduates to transfer to Maine’s public universities and have all their credits count.
About the two systems
In the 2023-24 academic year, the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System enrolled a total of 46,942 degree-seeking students as well as tens of thousands of Mainers in free early college courses, short-term training and non-credit educational programs.
Maine’s seven community colleges have the lowest tuition and fees in New England and serve more than 30,000 students a year through early college, short-term workforce training, associate degree, certificate and advanced certificate programs. High school graduates or the equivalent from the Classes of 2022-2025 qualify for 100% free tuition under the Free College Scholarship.
The University of Maine System has seven public universities and a law school. Over the past two decades, UMS has awarded 106,362 degrees.
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If I wanted to dilute the supremacy of the UMS, I'd do this too. Like a sheep in wolf's clothing, the prestigious roles of our community college system should remain pristine. Either that, or we need to return to glorify the high school "shop class" and "home ec" - at the high school level.
We already have enough psychology undergrads. We should be focused on assuring that our young adults have the tools, the life and work skills, they need in order to pursue a career path that is of equal value to the student and to society.
Seriously, do we need electricians with LCSW designations. Or PhD's running breweries? Someone once said there is nothing new in this world - why then do some people keep trying to prove otherwise? We at one time had the Gorham State Teachers College which produced the greatest generation of teachers ever, right here in Maine. Confusing the process is just bass-ackward.
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