Getting To Know: University of Maine-Orono (UMaine)-Again
Looking for a flagship state university that might charge you no more than Home State U? Then you might want to check out the main campus of the University of Maine (UMaine), also known as Black Bear Nation.
UMaine does a nice job promoting its students and setting through its Life In The Pines admissions programs. I’ve written about this school before. But until now I didn’t know that Maine is called The Pine Tree State. I updated my UMaine Pinterest page and invite you to read on!
UMaine is small for a flagship state university.
While Maine ranks 42nd in population among U.S. states, its flagship university has fewer undergraduates than the flagships in every smaller state. UMaine has just over 9,400 undergraduates and just over 2,100 graduate students.
Approximately 40 percent of undergraduates come from other states. The top four sending states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Jersey. Three of these states, New Hampshire excluded, have flagship state universities with increasingly selective admissions, The University of New Hampshire, while not being exceptionally selective, has one of the highest resident costs of attendance in the country , approaching $40,000 for this year,
UMaine has cost appeal to residents of several states
The Flagship Scholars Commitment Program presents a rare circumstance where UMaine’s estimated cost of attendance could be close to what it takes to attend Home State U in several states. These include the four previously mentioned plus several others, including California and Pennsylvania. However, the award is a sliding scale based on academic performance.
This will work out well for someone who has the profile to get into UConn, UMass-Amherst or Rutgers-New Brunswick. The major difference in costs will be transportation to and from home for a Connecticut, Massachusetts or New Jersey resident. However, there needs to be other reasons to make it appealing to choose UMaine.
Sixty-three percent of incoming freshmen in 2024 qualified for need-based scholarships averaging just over $13,000. Over a third received merit scholarships, including Flagship Match, that averaged approximately $9,100. However, two thirds of the Class of 2024 needed to borrow to cover educational costs. Their debts, on average, were highly at just over $38,000. The maximum that they could have borrowed from the Federal Student Loan Program was $27,000, About a quarter of the class needed to take out private loans.
UMaine is not exceptionally selective
The application volume between 2021 and 2025 has remained steady. So has the acceptance rate. Between 15,000 and 16,000 students applied. No less than 94 percent got in. The yield rate, the percentage of applicants who enroll, has most recently been 15 percent, low for a flagship state school.
Admissions are test optional and there’s no application fee
Among those who submitted SAT scores the middle 50 percent scored between 1080 and 1320. My perception from looking at the grades and scores was that an applicant who can get into UConn, UMass-Amherst or Rutgers’ main campus could be among the top quarter at UMaine, possibly welcomed into the Honors College.
UMaine historically lost about a quester of its freshman class. However, the retention rate has improved to 83 percent. Most recently, the four-year graduation rate was 45 percent for the class that entered in 2020. That’s low for a flagship state school.
There are interesting aspects to academics at UMaine
UMaine is the only flagship that I’m aware of where:
- Enrollment in the Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture is more than double the enrollment of the business school
- When enrollments in Engineering and Engineering Technology are combined, they exceed enrollment in business by 59 percent
This might be a great school for someone who is serious about the environment or technology.
Majors such as Construction Engineering, Environmental Horticulture, Human Dimensions of Climate Change, Offshore Wind Energy and Sustainable Agriculture are tough to find anywhere. Many majors are also available as minors.
UMaine is one school where it might be wise to take advantage of the Honors College which has approximately 700 students. Admission is by invitation after acceptance via Early Action. Please know that a minimum GPA of 3.3 is required to graduate with honors. UMaine has one of the oldest honors college programs in the country, dating back to 1935. Given the small number of graduate students, it might be more possible to do research with faculty at UMaine than it would be at much larger flagships. Students are also more likely to see small small classes here than at other larger state flagships. Forty-two percent of classes taught at UMaine (Orono and Machias) had fewer than 20 students. Fifteen percent had more than 50.
UMaine is not an intimidating place for a flagship
Check out the virtual tour series on YouTube before you visit. UMaine might be one of the few flagships where you can walk, bike or skateboard anywhere to get around when it’s not snowing.
The greatest attractions of the area are really further off campus
Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park, Bar Harbor and the Moosehead Lake Region are all short driving distances away. Those who are interested in outdoor recreation will be quite happy at UMaine. Those looking for a more urban experience or a more direct route to a large city might be happier at New Hampshire, Rhode Island or UMass. The same holds true for students who want to knock on doors for their next internship or their first full-time job after graduation.
I walked into downtown Orono when I visited. As college towns go Ornono is quite small though it has some of the college town vibe.
UMaine is really a hockey school
The Black Bears come close to selling out a 5,000 seat arena during successful seasons. The men’s program won national championships in 1993 and 1999 and were most recently Hockey East Tournament Champions in 2025. Hockey attendance per game is quite close to football attendance per game.
The Black Bears were also conference champions in baseball in America East in 2024 and 2025,
Conclusions
UMaine is one school where the costs might work out, but academic and social fit needs serious consideration. As someone who graduated from a much larger state university I might have been tempted to look at UMaine to learn what I might get at a much smaller place, especially the Honors College.
he Report Card: University of Maine-Orono (UMaine)
- Four-Year/Six-Year Graduation Rates: C/C
- Freshman Retention: B
- Costs: B+
- Comforts: B
- Community: B
- Curriculum: A
- Connections: A (New England states)/C (elsewhere)
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