Maine community college enrollment surges thanks to free tuition

AUGUSTA, Maine (WMTW) – Enrollment at Maine’s seven group schools is surging, thanks largely to the brand new free faculty scholarship program for latest highschool graduates.

The Maine Group Faculty System stated Friday that their preliminary fall enrollment was 12,765 college students, up 12% from Fall 2021. A number of thousand extra college students are anticipated to enroll within the subsequent few weeks. Closing enrollment numbers will likely be tallied on Oct. 15.

Of the overall fall enrollment, 42% – 5,399 college students – qualify for the Free Faculty scholarship.

“This enhance in enrollment exhibits how essential the promise of an amazing schooling is to Maine residents. Getting the talents wanted for jobs in right now’s economic system is shut at hand, reasonably priced, and vitally essential to touchdown an amazing job with good pay,” stated David Daigler, president of the Maine Group Faculty System.

The Free Faculty Scholarship, introduced in April, covers all tuition and obligatory charges for full-time college students who graduated from highschool or handed an equivalency examination in 2020-23. The Free Faculty scholarship was funded with a one-time $20 million state allocation.

The typical price of tuition and obligatory charges at Maine’s group schools is $3,700 a 12 months.

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