Hecker, student discuss Flagship Match on WBUR in Boston
Jeffrey Hecker, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Maine, was interviewed by 90.9 WBUR-FM, Boston’s NPR news station, for a report about UMaine’s Flagship Match tuition scholarship program and out-of-state recruiting efforts. Under the match, UMaine discounts out-of-state tuition for students who meet certain academic standards — a “B” average and an above-average SAT score — down to what they would pay at their home state’s flagship campus, according to the report. There is now “quite a gap” between how much UMass and UMaine expect from each enrolled student — almost $5,000 a year before financial aid, according to Hecker. The Flagship Match is an attempt to capitalize on that gap. If Maine can attract students from Massachusetts or Connecticut, they can make money while charging them no more than what their home state’s best university would, the report states. The program worked for Rachel Hyatt of Connecticut — now a first-year student at UMaine. “I did fall in love, and I wanted to be here. But [UMaine] being cheaper — it just made it so much easier to choose,” Hyatt said. Hecker said the out-of-state offensive is working. The complexion of UMaine’s student body has changed from 15 percent out-of-state undergraduates in 2009 to 30 percent this past year, WBUR reported.