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A disturbing statistic appears in this issue of The Maine Campus: Maine has the fourth-highest tuition in the country. After you wipe the tears from your eyes, it’s time we address the issue of the Maine’s “brain drain.”
We commend University of Maine President Peter Hoff and Gov. John Baldacci for taking this issue by the horns. Unfortunately, it feels like it isn’t going to be solved anytime soon.
One thing can be done immediately to remedy a part of this problem: lower tuition rates. The northeast is full of quality universities like Boston College, Harvard and Dartmouth. So, if Maine wants to keep its high school graduates, it must be willing to give them some incentive for staying in state. It just doesn’t make sense for UMaine to be among the highest tuition state school in the nation with such a weak state economy.
This problem is two-fold though. In addition to Maine losing its high school students to out-of-state colleges, graduates of Maine universities are fleeing the state in droves. In fact, Maine is among the worst states in the nation at retaining graduates.
According to Philip Trostel, a UMaine economics professor who has been researching the topic for more than a year, the lack of prosperity and culture in Maine is why graduates are flocking out of state.
There simply aren’t enough well-paying jobs in Maine to keep graduates here, and according to Trostel, “there is little sign that this trend is changing.”
This is truly disturbing, especially to those of us at this university who are graduating in a few short months. There is little comfort in the fact that many UMaine graduates will not be able to find jobs in this state. We need higher education to change and tuition prices to fall soon.
Bangor Daily News