USM works to offset budget shortfall with higher enrollment - WCSH

The university is facing a $36-million deficit, and to make up for it, school officials are making system wide cuts to faculty, staff, and programs. On Friday the Academic and Student Affairs Committee voted to cut American and New England Studies, Geosciences, and the Arts and Humanities courses on the Lewiston campus. Enrollment at USM has steadily declined over the years, school officials say for a number of reasons including a drop in high school graduates in Maine and over saturation of the state's universities and community colleges. USM is projecting a $15-million shortfall this academic year alone, inspiring a bigger push to raise the enrollment rate. http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2014/09/02/university-southern-maine-usm-telethon-budget/14989439/