Background Report on College Affordability in Maine

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Maine an “F” grade for affordability of higher education in both Measuring Up 2000 and Measuring Up 2002. In the 2000 report, Maine’s affordability score (54 on a 100-point scale) was 3rd worst in the nation (ahead of RI and NH). In the 2002 report, Maine’s affordability score (56) was in a three-way tie (with NY and VT) for 7th worst in the country (ahead of NH, RI, MT, OR, DE, OH). Although there are legitimate criticisms of the methodology for constructing these scores, it seems pretty clear that college affordability is an important barrier to attainment of higher education in Maine. This report is an introduction to current issues on college affordability in Maine. It is meant to serve as a starting point for discussion. The goal of this report is to present the dimensions of the problem as best as possible while avoiding the temptation to evaluate the facts