That all seems logical. Then I guess it's time to abandon USM Portland for these ideas and focus on Roux and UNE in Biddeford for university level Southern Maine tech offerings. That or Boston. Boston is easier to get to than Bangor, and with far more employment offerings and internships too. Night and day.
What were the amendments @Cosakita18 ?
I’m not saying abandon USM but Maine has a limited amount of resources and the school currently barely offers any masters programs in any of the sciences forget about PhD programs. To build that up is extremely expensive. You can’t just ramp up the existing to allow more students as there is no existing. The better track is to offer the classes on campus via Orono and as you say allow the private schools to offer what makes sense on their dime not the limited Maine taxpayer.
USM Portland needs an Alfond angel like UMO. It is basically about the educational offerings and explosive tech growth in Boston, and the relative ease of getting there from Brunswick to Wells (the train). My ex-girlfriend is from Beijing (arch degree from USC) and she says parents there want their kids to go to Harvard, MIT, or Stanford (and a few other CA schools) and so will look at high schools within a relatively short distance to get a theoretical advantage. It's why a few years ago Thornton Academy, my alma mater, had nearly 100 Chinese students. The parents figure it out on a map. TA is also an Apple certified school with a top STEM program. Today, TA has less Chinese students because there were "complaints" and the mix now is amongst students from other parts of Asia and South America (the rich). I know because sometimes I see them on the train from Saco to Boston or the Starbucks and I will ask friendly questions. They love the recreational options and easy access to Boston and NYC. The foreign students count now is nearing 200 at TA, and the tuition and room & board reaches a bit over 80K (I inquired for a friend's daughter, but alas, no real discount with me being an alum). Do the math on that. Fun fact: all three of the new dorms are Passivhaus certified so they don't freeze during the winter. And UMO in the winter?