University of Maine at Presque Isle & StraighterLine Partner

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 www.straighterline.com/colleges/partner-colleges/umpi.

### About University of Maine at Presque Isle The University of Maine at Presque Isle is an institution of opportunity where every student has the ability to thrive and succeed. UMPI specializes in personalized, technologically innovative learning and access to real-world career experience. A low student-to-teacher ratio and class sizes of 30 students or less, even in introductory-level courses, ensures lots of one-on-one interaction for each student. An invested, highly-motivated team of faculty and staff adds to the family-like atmosphere on campus and the feeling that you’re still part of the community even when you’re an online student taking classes from thousands of miles away. Located in the heart of northern Maine, the University of Maine at Presque Isle was established in 1903 as a state teacher’s school. The University now offers a wide range of liberal arts and professional programs, as well as several programs that are offered completely online. UMPI is one of the seven universities within the University of Maine System. About StraighterLine StraighterLine helps students reach their full potential by putting them on a straighter line towards the degree of their choice, the career of their dreams, and the life they've always wanted—on their budget and on their schedule. StraighterLine was founded in 2009 by Burck Smith as a solution to the rising costs of college education. Burck set out to discover why prices for online courses were the same or higher than those of face-to-face courses. Using relationships with colleges, publishers and policymakers that were forged in his 15 years of online higher education experience, Burck created StraighterLine, a way for students to get low-priced—but equal quality—college credit. StraighterLine students have transferred over 26,000 StraighterLine credits to America’s colleges. In addition to its over 80+ Partner Colleges, over 400 colleges have accepted credit for StraighterLine courses. StraighterLine’s courses are evaluated and recommended by the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT). More than 2,000 colleges and universities consider ACE CREDIT recommendations in determining the applicability of coursework and examination results to their courses and degree programs. UMPI Contact: Rachel Rice 207.768.9447 [email protected] StraighterLine Contact: Beth Dumbauld 443.712.7132 [email protected]