UMPI Partners with StraighterLine to Offer Students Nationwide Another Affordable Degree Option

PRESQUE ISLE—The University of Maine at Presque Isle has partnered with StraighterLine, a leading provider of affordable, flexible and transferrable online college courses, to give students across the nation another affordable pathway to its 30 liberal arts and professional degree programs. The University strives to be the region’s premier learning institution and is committed to providing a high quality education at an affordable cost.

Together, U.S. educational company StraighterLine and UMPI are providing students with online courses that create a flexible and affordable degree path to UMPI, helping students save a significant amount on their full degree program.

“We’re very pleased to announce our partnership with StraighterLine and to provide students from across the U.S. with the opportunity to complete their general education courses online with StraighterLine and then finish their undergraduate experience through one of our degree programs,” UMPI President Linda Schott said. “We’re confident that students coming to us from StraighterLine will be very pleased with our very affordable and high quality courses.”

Because StraighterLine’s focus is on providing general education courses, their students look at universities across the country to pick the degree program that fits them best and then transfer their StraighterLine credits to that university. Becoming one of StraighterLine’s partners enables a university to increase potential transfer students’ awareness of their programs sooner and to connect more efficiently.

In announcing the partnership, officials noted that high tuition rates have put many colleges and universities out of reach for an increasing number of people and that completing general education courses online can significantly cut the cost of a college degree.

"Together with UMPI, students in Maine, indeed the nation, now have multiple, affordable options to start college," says Burck Smith, CEO and founder of StraighterLine.

UMPI currently offers one of the most competitively-priced college education opportunities in the Northeast, and recently lowered its out-of-state tuition rates by 40 percent. Partnering with StraighterLine further expands on UMPI’s commitment to cut cost for students. StraighterLine’s online college courses start as low as $148 and, through the new partnership with UMPI, all approved general education courses completed at StraighterLine can now be used as prerequisites for a number of UMPI’s degree programs.

UMPI offers 23 Bachelor’s Degree Programs, including:

• Accounting
• Art
• Business Administration
• Biology
• Criminal Justice
• Elementary Education
• Environmental Studies
• Liberal Studies
• Mathematics
• Physical Education
• Project Management and Information Systems
• Psychology
• Secondary Education
• Social Work
• Special Education

For more information on the partnership and using StraighterLine online courses to complete general education requirements at University of Maine at Presque Isle, please visit http://www.straighterline.com/colleges/partner-colleges/university-maine-presque-isle/.