University of Southern Maine

Public · Moderately Selective · ME

Photo: John Phelan (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationME · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads4,222

Student:faculty14:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate25.5%

6-yr grad rate40.4%

Drop-out rate26.1%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$11k

Out-of-state tuition$28k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity24.8%

Gender diversity58.7%

International1.5%

Identity—

Overview

The University of Southern Maine operates across campuses in Portland and Gorham, putting it at the center of Maine's largest metropolitan area rather than in a rural college town like most of the state's other public campuses. It serves a substantial share of commuter, transfer, and adult students alongside more traditional undergraduates.

Academics

Nursing, business, and public-service-oriented programs are the university's most established offerings, benefiting from direct proximity to Portland's hospitals, employers, and state and municipal government. Coursework and scheduling are built with working and adult students in mind, alongside a more traditional undergraduate population at the Gorham campus.

Campus & student life

The Portland campus places students in Maine's cultural and economic center on Casco Bay, with access to a small but genuine city; Gorham, by contrast, has a quieter, more traditional campus feel. Because the student body spans both locations and includes many commuters, campus social life is less centralized than at a single-campus residential university.

Worth knowing

Students choosing USM should understand which campus, Portland or Gorham, their program is based on, since the two have distinctly different settings and the university does not function as a single unified physical campus.

usm.maine.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate79.2%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 990–1250 · ACT 24–28

Test policyrequired

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying