Heather Holland, right, the associate dean of online learning at Maine College of Art & Design, and Rachel Somerville, the chair of the art education program, at the college’s campus in Portland. In January, MECA announced its first fully online program, a masters of arts in education. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Thousands of students working toward graduate and undergraduate degrees in Maine never have to set foot on a college campus.

Maine’s higher education institutions, from state universities to private schools to the state’s only art college, are introducing new degree programs that can be completed entirely online. The colleges say this addresses a growing market in higher education that appeals to adult learners with busy schedules and a desire for a flexible degree program.

In January alone, at least three Maine institutions announced new 100% online degree programs: There’s a master’s program at the Maine College of Art & Design, a Bachelor of Science in business management at Thomas College and a Master of Science in climate change leadership at the University of New England.

Online degrees have also evolved rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic when colleges quickly shifted online and courses across disciplines adapted to a remote format.

“Many of us in higher education thought there were certain types of programs that either really can’t be delivered fully online, or could only be delivered that way with great difficulty, or shouldn’t be delivered that way,” said Jeffrey St. John, the University of Maine System’s vice chancellor of academic and student affairs. “I would say now, we’re growing across the board: STEM, social sciences and arts and humanities, but also lab-based programs, some field experience-based programs, really all types of offerings that we have, we found a way to deliver it online and do so with high quality.”

Still, not every college in Maine has jumped on the online bandwagon. Liberal arts colleges, like Bates in Lewiston and Bowdoin in Brunswick, remain committed to a model of residential, in-person education, although some administrators say they’re closely watching the evolution of online learning.

MAINE COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

The Maine College of Art & Design ventured into the online degree world in January when it announced its first fully online program, a Master of Arts in education to begin fall 2025.

Rachel Somerville is the chair of the college’s art education program. She said art teachers and professionals are often lifelong learners, and the new master’s program was developed with their needs and desires in mind.

“Art teachers in the state of Maine, and arts professionals, really want to become a part of Maine College of Art & Design, but due to time, working full-time, distance, our teachers living in rural areas and other constraints, these working professionals haven’t really been able to participate in existing in-person programs,” Somerville said.

The program is made up of 30 credits, which students can complete at different paces between 10 and 18 months. Coursework is asynchronous, meaning students can log in at any time. The class sizes will stay small — the college plans to enroll just 10-15 students per cohort.

The Maine College of Art & Design in Portland. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Heather Holland, MECA’s new associate dean of online learning, said this is an exciting direction for the college because online programs can reach a wider and more diverse group of prospective students.

“Think about folks that decide to take that next step for graduate school. The majority of folks, if they’re looking at a face-to-face program, they really are looking at the small 50-mile radius of their home,” Holland said. “But with online, the sky is the limit.”

Holland said another advantage is the cost savings. The cost per credit is the same as the college’s in-person Master of Arts in teaching at $720, but online students don’t pay enrollment fees, lab or orientation fees, or other costs like transportation, housing or health insurance; they also take six fewer credits than the in-person students. (There is a $100 technology cost per e-term.)

Holland said the college is considering offering more certificates and online continuing studies classes, but is not looking at any fully online undergraduate options.

MAINE’S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES 

Maine’s first fully distance-learning degree was a TV broadcast program at the University of Maine at Augusta that launched 36 years ago. Today, the University of Maine System has 3,328 students enrolled in 202 fully online programs at all levels.

Chancellor Dannel Malloy said the system has long been a leader in online education, and that the number of online-only programs is growing as the system attempts to meet the market. The system’s 2023 strategic plan calls for doubling that number by 2028.

“The days where educational institutions can dictate what a student will do, or how they will do it, or what modality they will receive it in, those days have largely changed,” Malloy said.

University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy speaks during a meeting of the University of Maine board of trustees at the University of Southern Maine in Portland in January. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

One of the system’s fastest-growing online programs is YourPace, a flexible competency-based program housed at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. The program allows students to complete their degree at a faster pace by progressing once they demonstrate mastery of certain subjects, which can include real-life experience and prior knowledge.

YourPace grew by 73% over the last year, according to the chancellor, and the system expects more growth by the end of the year.

System leaders said the quality of online programs has improved enormously, and the level of engagement and support available for remote students is approaching that of a traditional classroom environment. Vice Chancellor Jeffrey St. John said another important evolution has been the change in stigma.

“Even 10 years ago, in certain circles, it would still be considered different or exotic to enroll in a fully online program,” he said. “Particularly post-COVID, but also just where we are today, online education is just another high-quality form of education.”

OTHER COLLEGES

Husson University in Bangor began offering online degrees through a third party about a decade ago, before it hired Amy Arnett in 2021 to internalize those programs. Today, the university has more than a dozen fully online degrees — including an MBA, a nursing degree and undergraduate programs in accounting, nutrition and psychology — with about 1,200 students.

Arnett, the associate provost for online and distance education, said the primary audience is adults who have started, but not completed, a degree. Students on average are 32 years old, come from outside of Maine and already have some transfer credits. She said most people seeking an undergraduate degree nationally aren’t traditional college-age kids.

“The pool of people wanting and needing bachelor’s degrees are these adults who never quite got it,” she said.

University of New England students mill about the Biddeford campus in November 2024. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

The University of New England, which currently only offers graduate programs online, is expanding into online undergraduate degree-completion programs, beginning with a health science program that will kick off next fall. The university began offering fully online programs about a decade ago, and currently enrolls more than 1,500 students.

Beth Taylor-Nolan, who runs UNE’s online programs, said the university selects its online programs based on market trends in careers, like biomedical science, nutrition, education and public health.

“We’re very career-focused because we want to make sure that our programs are helping our students either enter a new career or advance within their own professional area,” she said.

Liberal arts colleges like Bates switched to remote learning briefly in 2020 but were soon back on campus. Bates Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill said most students fall in the traditional college age group, and so much learning happens outside the classroom through clubs, sports and hallway conversations.

That model only works in person. Hill said the college will never be at the forefront of the online education revolution, but he does believe there are lessons to be learned from watching institutions that are.

“We have identified what we think is a phenomenal model of education, that is residential, close interaction, faculty-student, so we’re protecting that,” Hill said. “But we’re also not so stuck in the quicksand that we’re not going to adapt and move and follow important trends that do open up avenues for students. I’m paying very close attention, as I know many of my colleagues are, to what brilliant online programs are doing out there, to learn what we can meaningfully, reasonably and wisely incorporate in what we’re trying to do.”