University of New England

UNE opens with largest undergraduate enrollment in school's history

With 1,725 degree-seeking undergraduate students, the University of New England opened fall 2006 with the largest undergraduate enrollment in the school’s history.

This is an 8 percent increase over fall 2005's opening undergraduate enrollment. Enrollment is also strong in UNE’s medical school and other graduate programs.

Total opening enrollment for Maine’s only private university is 3,534. UNE has had continuous enrollment growth over the past two decades. In the fall of 2002, UNE’s total opening enrollment was 2,373. The University is now almost 50 percent larger than it was just four years ago.

Undergraduate Enrollments
Undergraduate programs have grown respectively over that time period. In 2002, UNE started the year with 1,237 undergraduates (984 on the University Campus in Biddeford and 253 on the Westbrook College Campus in Portland). This year’s undergraduate enrollment is 40 percent larger than that of 2002’s, with 1,395 on the University Campus and 330 on the Westbrook College Campus.

A sizable part of UNE’s undergraduate growth has been due to the expansion of the College of Arts and Sciences, based on the University Campus. In the past six years, UNE has greatly expanded and diversified its undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as its professional programs in education and business.

Housing
A result of this undergraduate surge on the University Campus has been the rapid growth of residential housing. This year about 975 students live on the coastal campus, with a new residential and classroom facility – Sandra Featherman Hall, named in honor of UNE’s most recent past president – now under construction. That facility, scheduled to open in the fall of 2007, will house about 150 more students.

(Press release issued Sept. 19, 2006)