Eastern Maine Community College Ranked 7th Fastest Growing Community College in the Nation

Bangor, Maine - In its annual publication of fastest growing community colleges, Community College Week ranked Eastern Maine Community College the seventh fastest growing college in the nation, as well as the fastest in the northeast.

The ranking was among community colleges with enrollments between 2,500 and 4,999 from the Fall of 2012 to the Fall of 2013.

Eastern Maine Community College saw a 17% increase, growing from 2,187 students to 2,558 students.

In contrast, higher education enrollment nationally has decreased by 1.3% and enrollment amongst community colleges nationally has decreased by 3.1% during this same period of time.

To buck the downward trend, Eastern Maine Community College has added several new academic
programs and undertaken initiatives centered on student success and retention.

New programs implemented since 2010 are criminal justice, fine woodworking, hospitality and tourism management, health IT, business office technology, CTE education, and fire science. Many traditional programs, such as nursing, automotive, and electrical are at capacity or have waiting lists.

“In addition to adding new degree programs, the college has overhauled its support services to ensure students have the support they need to stay in school, be successful in their academic work, and complete their degree,” says Dr. Lawrence Barrett, president of Eastern Maine Community College. “This has included increased tutoring and advising, and intensive remedial work, on top of working with faculty and staff to improve curriculum and implement a First Year Experience course.”

The college’s Student Success Center, the hub for student support services, logged over 4,200 hours of tutoring and advising in the spring 2014 semester. It also inaugurated a Summer Success Academy to help incoming students quickly and successfully get through remedial work and into their degree program courses.

Community College Week publishes its “Fastest-Growing Community Colleges” edition annually, providing a comparison of enrollments from one year to the next. The data isn’t intended to render judgment on the quality of colleges included in the listings, but rather provide a quantitative snapshot of enrollment trends.

Eastern Maine Community College is a two-year college that provides the highest quality post-secondary technical, career and transfer education and serves as a dynamic community and economic development resource. In addition to its Bangor campus, the college has three off-campus higher education centers in Dover-Foxcroft, Ellsworth, and East Millinocket.