Our Mission

At the University of Maine Graduate & Professional Center, we believe outstanding public education is a catalyst for economic growth. We prepare leaders to solve the state’s most pressing challenges, through cross-disciplinary, experiential, and market-driven graduate and professional programming. We are Maine focused, nationally competitive, and globally relevant.

“The Maine Center is a bold initiative that capitalizes on the strengths of our universities and recognizes the central role the University of Maine System plays in driving statewide economic prosperity.”

– James Erwin, Former Chairman of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees

Our Challenge & Opportunity

Maine and its public universities face a number of challenges in today’s economic landscape: a declining and aging workforce, rapidly evolving business needs, and increased competition for professionals and graduate-level students.

The University of Maine Graduate & Professional Center (the Maine Center) brings together graduate and professional programs in law, business, policy, and public health to address these challenges. The Maine Center is a consortium of academic programs working collaboratively with one another, and with the public and private sectors, to serve students, businesses, and organizations statewide. The consortium is made up of four graduate education and research programs:

Our Support

The Harold Alfond Foundation invested $2 million to support the Maine Center planning process in 2014. In 2017, the foundation announced a $7.5 million challenge grant to the University of Maine System to implement the plan. It is the largest private gift to a multi-campus effort in the System’s history. The challenge grant comes with specific benchmarks and deliverables. Maine Center Ventures (MCV), a nonprofit organization established by the University of Maine System, is responsible for meeting these benchmarks and deliverables, and implementing the initial phase of a Maine Center Campaign.