A 2024 “Top Performer in Social Mobility” Regional Colleges – North  (#2 – tie)
— U.S. News & World Report

The University of Maine at Farmington’s commitment to providing an affordable education is further reflected in its U.S. News ranking as the #2 Top Performer in Social Mobility in its category.

UMF was the only school of its kind in New England to appear in the Top 10 of the Social Mobility category.

This U.S. News ranking recognizes how well schools provide affordable access to higher education and graduate students from lower family incomes.

Nationally, economically disadvantaged students are less likely than others to finish college but some colleges, like UMF, are more successful than others at advancing social mobility. We do this by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with federal Pell Grants. The vast majority of Pell Gants are awarded to students whose adjusted gross family incomes are under $50,000.

The category Regional Colleges – North includes schools across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland that focus on the undergraduate experience

A 2024 “Best Value School,” Regional Colleges – North  (#6)
— U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News named the University of Maine at Farmington a Best Value School, Regional College – North for 2024.

According to U.S. News, their calculation takes into account a school’s academic quality, as indicated by its 2024 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, and the 2022-2023 net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.

The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.

The category Regional Colleges – North includes schools across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland that focus on the undergraduate experience.

A 2024 “Top Public Regional College” – North  (#7)
— U.S. News & World Report

UMF was named the #7 U.S. News & World Report Top Regional Public College – North for 2024.

Regional Colleges refer to those institutions that focus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines.

Farmington was also the #11 Best Regional College – North Overall, a category that includes public and private colleges of a similar scope.

The category Regional Colleges – North includes schools across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland that focus on the undergraduate experience.

UMF has been rated one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News 26 times since 1998.

A 2022-2023 Top Rated “LGBTQ-Friendly College”
— Campus Pride

The University of Maine at Farmington received one of the highest ratings a college can receive — a 4.5-star rating (out of a possible 5) from Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create safer, more LGBTQ-Friendly learning environments at colleges and universities.

The Campus Pride score is based on eight LGBTQ-friendly factors, including: policy inclusion, support & institutional commitment, academic life, student life, housing, campus safety, counseling & health and recruitment and retention efforts. The Campus Pride Index is the premier national benchmarking tool which self-assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices.

Farmington was tied for the top college in Maine to be listed.

Why is this listing valuable to LGBTQ youth and families? LGBTQ youth and families want to know what campuses are doing when it comes to inclusive policies, programs and practices. For the last decade, Campus Pride has been the most trusted, reliable educational resource for students and families to find the best campuses for LGBTQ inclusion and safety. The organization works alongside students, faculty, staff and administrators at 1,400+ campuses annually to help support and improve the quality of campus life for LGBTQ people.

A 2023 “Top Green College”
— Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition

The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition provides a comprehensive measure of a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and prepared institution.

Specifically, it includes:

  • Whether students have a quality of life on campus that is both healthy and sustainable
  • How well a school is preparing students for employment in an increasingly green economy
  • How environmentally responsible a school’s policies are

According to The Princeton Review, out of the over 710 schools considered for this project, all 455 Green Colleges (which includes the University of Maine at Farmington) profiled on its site are, in their opinion, truly up to the task of training the next generation of leaders, people who will be responsible for putting green ideas into practice.

The Princeton Review chose the 455 colleges based on its 2021–22 survey of administrators at 713 colleges concerning their institutions’ sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs. The Review’s editors analyzed more than 25 data points from the survey to tally Green Rating scores for the schools on a scale of 60 to 99. Colleges that earned a Green Rating score of 80 or higher, such as UMF, were chosen for the Guide to Green Colleges.

UMF made the Princeton Review Top Green College list in 2023, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

A 2022 “Hidden Gem College”
— College Raptor

UMF was selected as a 2022 Hidden Gem College by College Raptor, a leading college planning platform that helps families discover college matches driven by AI algorithms to find the best colleges at the best price.

This College Raptor selection recognizes Farmington as one of the best colleges in the country, based on a combination of factors, including retention rates, graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratio, endowment per student, selectivity, and other key metrics as reported via the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the most recently available enrollment year.

Other Hidden Gems in the Northeast include Bennington College, St. Michael’s College, Champlain College, Salve Regina Univ., Saint Anselm College, Rhode Island School of Design, Mount Holyoke College, among others.

A 2022-2023 “Top Bachelor’s College”
— Washington Monthly

The University of Maine at Farmington was ranked #40 nationally, from Maine to Alaska in the Top Bachelor’s Colleges category by Washington Monthly for 2022-23. Farmington’s overall score is based on an institution’s contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility, research and promoting public service. UMF was one of just four colleges in New England named to the Top 50 among Bachelor’s Colleges.

This is the 13th year in a row UMF has been recognized by Washington Monthly as a smart, well-run college that helps students earn a high-quality diploma at an affordable price while instilling in them a sense of service.

A 2021-2022 “Most Affordable Eco-friendly College”
— Best Choice Colleges

Best Choice Colleges named the University of Maine at Farmington among the Top 20 Most Affordable Eco-friendly College in the Nation.

To decide the 50 Most Affordable Eco-Friendly Colleges, Best Choice Colleges consulted organizations such as the Sierra Club, U.S. News & World Report, and The Princeton Review to come up with American colleges and universities that have a solid reputation as “eco-friendly.”

From there, it consulted nearly 100 universities’ own websites to determine the annual undergraduate tuition. Finally, it ranked each university from lowest to highest annual tuition, in order to determine the 50 most affordable.

All of the schools on the list have unique structures or lifestyle characteristics that make them leaders in sustainability. They have all earned formal “green” ratings from one major agency or another, and most have been recognized by respected groups dedicated to protecting the environment

Whether you’re looking for an education in order to pursue a career in environmentalism, or are just interested in living a life of sustainability, Farmington is dedicated to the idea of sustainable living: a LEED-certified building, a sustainable biomass heating facility, geo-thermal wells for heating and cooling campus buildings, even an on-campus community vegetable garden. Here at UMF, you don’t need to spend a fortune in tuition and fees just to attend a responsibly eco-friendly college.

A 2020-2021 “Best College for Your Money”
— Money magazine

The University of Maine at Farmington was chosen one of Money magazine’s Best Colleges for Your Money for 2020-2021.

The personal finance publication’s rankings recognized Farmington as the second of only three public higher education institutions in Maine that successfully combine quality of education, affordability and post-graduate outcomes. The annual Money rankings offers a practical analysis of more than 700 four-year colleges throughout the U.S., with UMF placing in the top half, nationwide.

Ten different indicators were used to capture the value of post-graduate outcomes, including early career earnings, experienced career earnings and the ability of students to succeed in professional careers. This year’s rankings place special emphasis on affordability, which now accounts for 40% of the ratings, and includes two new net price figures to capture affordability for students from both low- and middle-income backgrounds.