ORONO – In a major act of collaboration, University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph W. Westphal and Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons recently signed a guaranteed admission agreement that allows MCCS students, upon completion of an associate degree in liberal studies, guaranteed admission to any UMS institution.

The two higher education leaders were joined at the State House in Augusta by Gov. John E. Baldacci and Maine Department of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron to make the announcement.

The agreement establishes AdvantageU, Maine’s Community College to University Guaranteed Admission Program, a transfer program scheduled to be available for newly admitted MCCS students beginning in the fall semester this year. By enrolling in AdvantageU, MCCS students will receive the benefits of early advising, a streamlined application process, no application fee and advanced course registration with continuing university students.

As part of AdvantageU, an MCCS student who intends to transfer to the university system must enroll in the program before the completion of 45 credits at MCCS. Upon attaining an associate degree in liberal studies, the student is guaranteed admission at junior standing to any institution of the University of Maine System. Students must maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average; a 2.5 GPA is required for guaranteed admission to the University of Maine, and the University of Maine at Farmington is subject to an enrollment cap.

The AdvantageU program was developed by the Maine Higher Education Partnership, a group of university presidents and community college presidents appointed by Westphal and Fitzsimmons in 2003 to increase collaboration and cooperation between the systems.

In an unprecedented effort to improve the ease and rate of two-year to four-year college transfers in Maine, the parties negotiated the guaranteed admission agreement among all of Maine’s 14 public community colleges and universities. The committee is led by Charles Lyons, president of the University of Maine at Augusta; and Barbara Woodlee, president of Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield.

The two systems will continue to rely on a matrix of more than 80 articulation agreements between community colleges and University of Maine System institutions. It was recognized, however, that an overarching admission agreement such as AdvantageU would further enhance the transfer opportunities for students and result in an overall increase in the number of postsecondary degrees granted in the state of Maine.

High college attainment rates significantly affect the state’s economic and civic well-being. Holders of associate and baccalaureate degrees may expect to earn, respectively, 23 percent and 61 percent more per year than those with high school diplomas.