NMCC Nursing Students from Houlton Area Receive Tuition Assistance

Aroostook County—Northern Maine Community College second-year nursing students from the Houlton area will be receiving extra support to complete their final year of the program.

Due to a projected budget deficit at the College for the 2014-15 fiscal year, four positions were cut in May including the nursing faculty position at the Houlton Higher Education Center.  The College immediately began investigating all options to assist the students being served in Houlton.

Thanks to special scholarship dollars for tuition from the Maine Community College System and the Northern Maine Community College Foundation, each of the six nursing students will receive $500 in the fall and again in the spring semester.

“Even though some of the second-year course work always had to be completed on the Presque Isle campus of NMCC, these students had an expectation that most of their classes could take place in Houlton,” said Dr. Dottie Martin, Academic Dean.  “Now that a majority of the course work must be completed in Presque Isle, we understand it will be a hardship for some of the students.  We are very happy to be able to help by identifying additional tuition assistance.  Any savings can be used to defray travel or other costs.”

Some of the classes will continue to be held in Houlton via the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s polycom system.

Martin and NMCC President Timothy Crowley met with the students in May to hear their concerns, notified them in June about the funding and had a final meeting last month to clarify any questions.

“The meetings were productive and informative.  Our students expressed their concerns in a responsible and respectful way and we reassured them every step would be taken to help them complete their nursing degree,” said Crowley.  “We are grateful to Houlton Regional Hospital for continuing to partner with the NMCC nursing program to provide a portion of the clinical component of this program.”