PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The accreditor for the University of Maine System (UMS) has affirmed the academic quality of a fast-growing degree completion program delivered online by the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) that has improved the earnings and employability of more than 12,500 adults since it launched less than a decade ago.
National reporting last spring on how quickly some adult learners earned their door-opening bachelor’s degrees through UMPI’s YourPace (External Site) led the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) to review the program, consistent with its standard practice (External Site).
As part of that process, the System provided NECHE with extensive data, which the Commission reviewed and accepted at its late September meeting.
That included the fact that many working adults enter YourPace with 15 or more years of professional experience and transfer an average of at least 90 college credits — equivalent to three years of full-time study — allowing them to complete the remaining requirements for a four-year degree typically in a year or less.
The data also showed that most learners seeking to complete their undergraduate degree through YourPace take a course load consistent with their traditional peers and, on average, earn 18 credit hours a semester. The average for full-time, degree-seeking students at Maine’s public universities who are not participating in YourPace is 14 credit hours per semester.
Meanwhile, 89% of adult learners reported that YourPace is at least as rigorous as their previous postsecondary education experience.
“For nearly a decade, YourPace has reopened a door to higher education that many working adults thought was closed to them,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “We are incredibly proud of the success of YourPace and the thousands of adult learners it serves, many of whom are earning life-changing credentials while balancing the demands of work and family. We welcome NECHE’s continued review and are committed to demonstrating that the innovation and accessibility that make YourPace so impactful are matched by the academic quality and rigor our students, employers and accreditor expect.”
YourPace was launched by UMPI in 2017 to upskill place- and time-bound working adults in the rural region in support of their economic mobility and local employer needs. Though the vast majority of the nearly 4,000 adult learners enrolled today are from out of state, existing and emerging YourPace undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs are directly responsive to Maine’s workforce needs, with recently approved offerings including a master’s degree in healthcare administration (External Site), associate and bachelor’s degrees in tourism, hospitality and outdoor recreation (External Site), and associate and bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education (External Site).
The YourPace degree completion program is available to adults aged 20 or older. Learners pay a flat rate per eight-week session and can take as many courses during that time as their schedule supports, with the classes fully online and asynchronous.
That flexibility and affordability have led YourPace to quickly become the nation’s most popular competency-based degree program offered by a public institution, and nearly tripled UMPI’s enrollment over the past five years — making it the third largest UMS university and stabilizing the System’s overall enrollment despite Maine’s high school graduating class shrinking faster than those in 45 other states.
“YourPace is doing exactly what it was designed to do: recognizing the knowledge, skills and experience adults bring to higher education and providing an affordable, flexible pathway to a degree that will improve their career opportunities and economic mobility,” said UMPI President Ray Rice.
Less than 1% of individuals who apply to YourPace apply to any other UMS university, and fewer than 5% transfer credits from other UMS universities, reinforcing that the innovative program is bringing new students into the System and the state.
Recently, UMPI partnered with the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) and the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) to deliver undergraduate public policy and nursing through YourPace, with enrollment in those new programs totaling 50 students.
As part of its review, NECHE acknowledged it was concerned about the “dramatic growth” of YourPace in part due to the speed at which degree completion was occurring. As an interim measure, the Commission opted to require the System to seek its formal approval before expanding YourPace to additional UMS universities or introducing new programs at UMPI. The accreditor will continue to monitor the System’s competency-based education programs, including through previously planned site visits to UMPI, UMF and UMFK in early 2027 before the System joins the Commission at its April meeting to discuss the focused evaluation.
NECHE, which accredits the entire System, had previously concluded, in writing, that YourPace competencies are “equivalent to conventional courses and programs with respect to the conceptual framework, course learning outcomes, program learning outcomes, and field experiences.” Every YourPace degree is awarded because an adult learner demonstrated mastery against a rigorous rubric standard that requires “near excellent” or “excellent” on every line.
Among YourPace’s graduates is Aroostook County native Mandy Spooner, who earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. I had kids, I was married, I had a full-time job,” Spooner recently told NewsCenter (External Site). “Being able to stand in a crowd of my fellow business peers and have that degree and know that I’m on the same playing field as them really meant everything to me.”
About the University of Maine System
The University of Maine System (UMS) is the state’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development and its seven public universities and law school are the most affordable in New England. Over the past two decades, UMS has awarded 106,362 degrees and spurred and strengthened thousands of small Maine businesses through its world-class research and development activities. For more information, visit www.maine.edu.
Media Contact:
Samantha Warren
Chief External & Governmental Affairs Officer
207-632-0389 / samantha.warren@maine.edu
