UMS Early College Update: Course Retake Policy Correction – Application Information and Deadlines – FERPA

Course Retake Policy Update/Correction

Great news! The Maine Department of Education (DOE) Aspirations program will now also cover the cost for students to retake a course if they earn a W or D grade as well as F and L grades (one time per course).  Our previous email indicated that the DOE would only cover retakes one time per course for F and L grades. 

ExplorEC: Application Information & Deadlines

We recognize that there has been some confusion regarding the EC application process and there are many new staff members at your school.  We are sending this email to make sure everyone understands the current policies and procedures. Individual campuses have communicated the information below in various ways (email updates, school visits with school counselors and students, Zoom visits to classrooms, counselor coffee talks, individual conversations etc), but we realize that not everyone has received the latest information.  

Our program has grown significantly and our teams manually review thousands of course applications every semester. It is incredibly important for everyone involved to follow strict policies and procedures in order to meet the funding and eligibility requirements for these programs that have been established by the Maine Legislature, Maine Department of Education, University of Maine System, and Maine Community College System.

Semester Registration Information

• Applications open annually on
  • the first Friday in November for spring
    • We will begin accepting applications for the Spring 2024 semester on Friday, November 3rd.
  • the second Friday in February for summer
  • the first Friday in April for fall
• EC Administrators at each University may process applications at different times depending on the enrollment schedule.
• All matriculated college students have priority so spots in courses may not be available to EC students (regardless of the seat availability listed in ExplorEC).
• Every completed application in ExplorEC is processed by an EC Administrator in the order it was received. 
• Registration is not confirmed until the status in ExplorEC is changed to “Registered”. 
• You can search for available courses in ExplorEC or use the following searches:

Class Search by Campus- All Classes

Distance Learning Class Search

Systemwide Course Search- All Classes/All Campuses

Online/On-Campus Application Deadlines

• The deadline for completed applications is 1 week before the class start date regardless of whether there are spots available in the class.
• A completed application includes the following:
  • Student signature
  • Parent consent
  • School counselor or homeschool parent approval
  • Prerequisite documentation (if necessary) which could include:
    • Placement test results
    • Transcripts (if the course is completed outside of the UMS)
    • AP exam results
    • SAT/ACT scores
    • Any other course specific requirements
• If completed applications are not received 1 week before the class start date, then the student application will not be processed and will be marked as a “Late Application”.

Concurrent Enrollment (CE) /Bridge Year (BRY) Application Deadlines:

• Deadlines for CE and BRY courses are set by each individual campus office.  Please contact the campus you are working with for more details.

Additional Important UMS EC Dates/Deadlines

You can also view important dates and deadlines here: 

• UMS EC Important Dates_Deadlines.docx

It is necessary to strictly follow these deadlines for the following reasons:  

• An increasing number of students apply at the last minute and our offices do not have the capacity to review the volume of applications we receive in such a short period of time. 
• Students who apply late are more likely to drop their courses or be unsuccessful in their course.  All UMS EC programs are aligning with the National Association of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) Accreditation standards. NACEP student standards require that students have access to resources and support. Since each EC application is reviewed and processed by an EC staff member, we need the week before courses start to provide students with resources (account activation codes, information on textbooks, and Brightspace training) and support to ensure they are set up for success. This support is particularly important for first-time students. 

Available Seats in ExplorEC

• We cannot guarantee course availability. There are a number of factors that can affect whether or not courses are available to EC students (regardless of the number of seats listed in ExplorEC). 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA):

• We cannot talk to parents/guardians of students without a signed FERPA release.
• Students can fill out the FERPA release in their ExplorEC portal by clicking on the “FERPA Consent Optional” tile.

If you have questions about any of this information, please contact us.

We appreciate your understanding, and hope to work with you in a future semester.