Higher ed is big business in Maine, but it’s also in constant motion
Maine has seen major changes in the world of higher education in recent years and even months.
For our cover story, Deputy Editor Renee Cordes looks at the new medical school building at the University of New England’s Portland campus. This summer, the $93 million, 110,000-square-foot Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences welcomes 735 medical students.
Continued investment in education has been a hallmark of Maine’s universities, colleges and research centers. In this case, it’s also Maine’s only medical school. Ultimately, the graduates UNE’s med school produces will help address the shortage of medical professionals.
“Our students compete head-to-head with other students from every medical school in the country for residency slots. The good news is we do extraordinarily well,” James Herbert, UNE’s president, tells Renee.
See Renee’s story, “Building the doctor pipeline,” here.
Training for careers is a key role in higher education, and STEM careers have been especially in demand.
As Senior Writer Laurie Schreiber reports, a program called Maine INBRE, short for Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, has helped prepare students from rural states for jobs in the biotech field. “To have that competitive edge has been incredibly important for me,” according to one veteran of the program.
Funding is a key part of higher education. New buildings and research programs cost money. It’s not news that federal funding — a perennial source of dollars for research — has been in jeopardy in recent months.
But staff writer Tina Fischer outlines some recent higher ed developments, including how some institutions have reclaimed funding that had been earmarked for elimination.
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