Discover the Best Public and Private Colleges in Maine

In recent years, we have seen many recent high school graduates shying away from traditional 4-year colleges in favor of technical or career schools.

These career schools, which often allow the students to enter to workforce in half the time (or less) than it takes to get a degree from a 4-year college, have gained popularity over their affordability and ability to get graduates into high-paying jobs.

That being said, about 19 million Americans were enrolled in traditional colleges in 2024.

If you, or a loved one, are planning to attend a traditional college you may be contemplating which one would be the best choice.

If you are planning to attend a college in Maine, we want to help.

Using data from Niche, Stacker has put together a list of the best public and private colleges in Maine.

When you are looking at colleges, there is a lot more to think about than just the quick facts listed on a school’s website.  Stacker recently went through the recent rankings from Niche and pulled together a list of the best public colleges in Maine.

Niche’s system puts the most weight on academic quality, which counts for forty percent of the score.  That part takes into account the strength of professors, the acceptance rate, the graduation rate, and how much the college invests in research.

The next biggest factor is value, which makes up just over twenty-seven percent of the score.  That includes the average cost for students once financial aid is applied, the typical loan amounts they take on each year, and what graduates earn after school along with how well they keep up with student loan repayment.

Niche also looks at things like campus diversity, student life, housing, dining, and even details about the surrounding community, from crime rates to rent prices.

Here are the lists of the best public colleges in Maine followed by the best private colleges in Maine

We were not surprised by many of the schools in this list.  U of M Farmington, Bates College, Colby College, and Husson University, for example.  However, some were kind of a surprise.  Unity Environmental College, for example.

What are your thoughts on these lists?  Do you agree?  Did you attend any of the colleges on this list?