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UMF begins school year with enrollment up, named state’s top ‘Best Bang for the Buck’

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Historic Merrill Hall on the University of Maine at Farmington campus.
Merrill Hall on the University of Maine at Farmington campus.
Enrollment is up as the University of Maine at Farmington started classes on Wednesday.
Enrollment is up as the University of Maine at Farmington starts classes on Wednesday.

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington’s first day of classes on Wednesday started off on a high note with enrollment up and the announcement that has been recognized as the top Maine college in Washington Monthly’s 2015 “Best Bang for the Buck” rankings.

According to Jared Cash, UMF’s vice president for enrollment, this is the largest incoming class since the fall of 2011.

“Our overall enrollment is up significantly to 567 enrolled students on the first day of classes compared to 500 last year at census date,” he said. Most of that increase, 59 of 67 students, is represented by a larger freshmen class. The 2018 class totaled 412, compared with this year’s freshmen class of 471.

Also notable is that 50 percent of the incoming class members are the first to attend college in their family, Cash said.

Twenty percent are non-residents of Maine coming from 18 different states and three countries and 20 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class. Forty percent were enrolled in an Advanced Placement curriculum while in high school.

Of the freshmen class, 31 students had at least one parent who graduated from UMF, Cash also noted.

“We’ve had a very strong year in enrollment, bringing in the largest class since 2011 and with very strong attributes,” he said.

In another announcement, UMF was named the top Maine college when it comes to “Best Bang for the Buck” rankings by Washington Monthly.

In the northeast region, UMF was ranked No. 14 of more than 400 public and private colleges in the northeast rankings in Washington Monthly’s, The Other College Guide: A Roadmap for the Right School for You. Three years ago, UMF was ranked 151 by the publication.

The annual publication compares more than 1,500 colleges in five geographic regions throughout the U.S. and ranks them on best value based on net price, graduation rate and students’ post-graduate earning ability to pay off their student loans.

“We are thrilled by this recognition,” said Kathryn A. Foster, UMF president. “As a premier public liberal arts college, UMF provides a quality, affordable education from curriculum through career. Many of our students are the first in their families to attend college and we offer a highly-personalized educational experience that helps them be successful on every level.”

UMF was also recognized by Washington Monthly’s 2015 College Guide for its contribution to the public good, ranking 52 out of nearly 350 baccalaureate colleges around the U.S. This distinction is based on three, equally-weighted categories: helping low-income students attend and graduate from college, producing cutting-edge scholarship and encouraging students to give back to their country. These rankings are based on the three most-recent years of data, helping to paint an accurate picture of each institution’s performance.

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2 Comments

  1. Wow that’s awesome!! Now wouldn’t it be great if they contributed to our area by paying property taxes…?it sure would help out our elderly and lower middle class whos taxes are skyrocketing wouldn’t it.

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