The University of Maine System is using controversial, commission-based recruiting to bring more foreign students to its schools, an investigative report recently showed.
The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting found the system has hired the firm Study Group to do recruiting abroad, for which agents are paid on a per-head basis by the university system. This has resulted in two students from China and one each from India, Vietnam and Bangladesh studying at the University of Maine’s campus in Orono this fall.
Although many will likely see this as a waste of money, it’s part of the changing world of higher education, and it’s important the Maine public colleges adapt and actively recruit students ”“ whether domestic or international.
Many wealthy families from around the globe are eager to send their children to the United States for study abroad terms or their entire college education. While the country may be falling behind the developing world in K-12 education, it still has some of the best universities and colleges in the world.
Unfortunately, college enrollment is declining at many schools, and the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting has previously reported about the financial woes of the University of Maine System. As with all of the state-funded departments, the school has suffered from the economic climate.
That’s why we’re pleased to see the system is actively working toward bringing more students to the school ”“ but hope that the only students who are being recruited and admitted are those who pay full tuition.
Financial aid should be reserved for students stateside, particularly Maine residents, in an effort to get more students to complete college degrees and then reside in the Pine Tree state after graduation. The college should also be focusing on efforts to attract more U.S. students, and those who were raised here in Maine.
Young people would also be well-served to consider staying in the state for their education; besides the savings offered through in-state tuition and free tuition to valedictorians of Maine high schools, the University of Maine has a lot to offer.
Among its highlights are the Advanced Structures and Composites Center in Orono, where students and faculty are doing cutting-edge research on turbines, as part of the DeepCwind Consortium. Students there also helped create the Bridge-in-a-Backpack, a lightweight, corrosion-resistant system for span bridge construction. According to the center’s website, the arches are easily transportable, rapidly deployable and do not require the heavy equipment or large crews to construct. Six bridges in the state have been built using the technology, according to the website.
The University of Maine School of Law is sited on the Portland campus of the University of Southern Maine, and the entire system offers a wide variety of areas of study.
It’s good that the system is highlighting what it has to offer and working to enroll more students; we hope the efforts pay off and that more quality students will spend their college years ”“ and tuition dollars ”“ here in Maine.
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