University of Maine
Public Research University in Orono, ME. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $48,653.
Students who entered University of Maine land at a median of $48,653 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 55% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
University of Maine admits 97% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. With 14,044 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield is low at 15%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Maine →Academics
Completion is middling: 55% finish inside six years. First-year retention of 83% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 26% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 52% return, against 83% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,342 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $18,061 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $12,642 while those at $110k+ pay $22,018. 87% of students get grant aid averaging $11,938, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 47% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,799 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,642 |
| $30–48k | $13,280 |
| $48–75k | $14,631 |
| $75–110k | $18,508 |
| $110k+ | $22,018 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,932 of these 8,342 students, totalling $24,795,090 — an average of $6,306 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Penobscot County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)