Media reference Flagship Match Program in articles on similar programs at other institutions
Forbes, Inside Higher Ed, Wall Street Journal and EAB referenced the University of Maine’s Flagship Match Program in articles on similar price matching programs recently implemented at other institutions. In 2019, Robert Morris University and Oglethorpe University will launch programs similar to the one at UMaine, which was implemented in 2015 to attract out-of-state students. Prospective UMaine students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0, an SAT score of 1120 or an ACT score of 22 to qualify for the program, which matches tuition at flagship schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Rhode Island and California. Forbes quoted former UMaine President Susan Hunter telling the Boston Globe, “Enrollment in general is something we’re acutely aware of, and we’re working hard. All of this has become much more of a science because everyone is in this situation of competing for students. Every flagship campus is recruiting from their neighboring states.” Forbes cited a Portland Press Herald statistic on enrollment — in 2016, the reported enrollment increase under the program was 22 percent. Out-of-state enrollment also increased by 12 percent in 2017, according to the Press Herald. Forbes also reported UMaine was featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2019 as “a sleeper choice for out-of-staters” for the program. Another Inside Higher Ed article stated 305 students received full flagship match awards in the program’s first year, 2016, 461 received awards in 2017, and 460 are projected to receive them in 2018.