In 2001, the Mitchell Institute launched a statewide study of barriers to college facing Maine students and their families. The resulting report, Barriers to Post-Secondary Education in Maine: Making College the Obvious and Attainable Next Step for More Maine Students (Barriers I), funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and published in July 2002, identified opportunities for improving access to higher education and offered concrete suggestions about how Maine schools and communities could help to increase the proportion of students continuing on to postsecondary education.

In 2006, the Mitchell Institute received grants from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and Bank of America to conduct a follow-up study, exploring in particular the growing gap between college intentions and actual enrollment among Maine's graduating high school seniors. In July 2007, the fifth anniversary of the Barriers I report, the Mitchell Institute released From High School to College: Removing Barriers for Maine Students (Barriers II). The report describes college enrollment trends in Maine, discusses the social/cultural, academic, and financial issues facing Maine students, profiles promising practices in Maine schools and communities, and makes recommendations about how to help more Maine students realize their college aspirations.

Removing Barriers (2007) Report
Download Summary (6 pages) PDF
Download Full Report (32 pages) PDF

Download Summary (8 pages) Microsoft Word
Download Full Report (48 pages) Microsoft Word

Barriers I (2002) Report
Download Executive Summary (Adobe pdf)
Download Executive Summary — text version (Microsoft Word)

If you have questions or would like more information about our Barriers research, please contact Lisa Plimpton at lplimpton@mitchellinstitute.org.

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