In 2001, the Mitchell Institute launched a statewide study of barriers to college facing Maine students and their families.

College Access and Persistence in Maine Research Brief, November 2011
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This 8-page report provides an updated snapshot of the benefits of--and barriers to--college in Maine. The Mitchell Institute thanks Maine Community Foundation for supporting this work.

Removing Barriers (2007) Report
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Download Full Report (32 pages) PDF
Download Summary (8 pages) Microsoft Word
Download Full Report (48 pages) Microsoft Word The Mitchell Institute received grants from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and Bank of America to explore a 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.

Barriers I (2002) Report
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Download Executive Summary — text version (Microsoft Word) The first Removing Barriers 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.

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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