UMaine committee recommends keeping in-state tuition flat
File photo / University of Maine
The University of Maine System has its the flagship campus in Orono, shown here.
A University of Maine System committee on Monday approved keeping in-state tuition flat as part of a proposed fiscal year 2022 budget to be voted on by the board of trustees next week.
The move was expected, after trustees in May voted to delay final approval of the budget until June "to provide time to develop a spending plan that holds tuition flat for in-state students for the upcoming academic year."
Trustees will consider final approval of the budget on June 25.
If adopted, the $578 million spending plan will be the seventh system-wide budget in the last decade to hold tuition rates flat for Maine students, steadily reducing the cost of tuition as a percentage of Maine per capita income since 2013.
The proposed budget aims to help keep the costs of higher education down for Maine students and families affected by the pandemic and looking ahead to the next chapter, according to a press release issued after Monday's meeting of the board's Finance, Facilities and Technology Committee.
In May, University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy and trustees delayed passage of an earlier budget proposal that would have included a 2.4% inflation-based increase to tuition rates for all students.
"Our students experience Maine at universities that prioritize student safety and success and deliver a world-class education,” Malloy said. “With strong support from Governor Mills and legislators and more first-year, out-of-state students expected at each of our universities, we can provide a more affordable return to normalcy for our Maine students.”
The average, full-time tuition for Maine students attending University of Maine System schools would be $8,572 for the upcoming academic year.
Established in 1968, the University of Maine System is made up of six public universities, comprising 10 campuses including its flagship in Orono, and numerous centers across the state.
The system serves more than 30,000 students annually and employs is supported more than 2,000 full-time and part-time faculty as well as 3,000-plus regular full-time and part-time staff. In 2020 it became the country's first and only statewide public higher education enterprise to receive system-wide accreditation.
Malloy told Mainebiz in an "On the Record" interview last year that getting unified accreditation was significant because "it will cause us to work more closely together as universities to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the people of Maine."
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