Washington Monthly College Rankings cite UMaine, UMM
The University of Maine is ranked No. 43 in the Student Voting category of the 2018 Washington Monthly College Rankings out this week. For the first time in its college rankings, Washington Monthly used four measures of a college’s commitment to encouraging voting by its students, all focused on the institution’s active participation in Tufts University’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
UMaine largely has been involved in both since the start of NSLVE and ALL IN. UMaine was recognized by ALL IN for having a 2016 student voting rate between 50 and 59 percent — one of 115 campuses recognized for their efforts in a 2017 ceremony.
Fifty-eight out of 1,488 colleges and universities included in Washington Monthly’s overall rankings received top scores of four. “More than three-quarters of the 58 top schools are public universities, even though private nonprofit schools make up the bulk of the rankings overall,” says Washington Monthly. “That’s a clear sign that these colleges are more in tune with their democratic missions.”
UMaine also has students, staff and faculty who work on voter registration, voter education and voter engagement through the UMaine UVote program. The program promotes voter registration, educates students on ballot issues and encourages students to vote. The polling location for Orono has been moved to a central campus location, where students who are residents of the town can vote on election day. This program and a faculty civic engagement group work together to encourage students to get educated and get involved.
In another Washington Monthly College Ranking, UMaine was listed among the top national universities. The University of Maine at Machias was ranked among the top liberal arts colleges.