ORONO (NEWS CENTER Maine) —The University of Maine System launched a promise initiative in fall 2018 to give Maine students in need of financial assistance access to college.
More than 1,200 Maine students received free tuition this fall, and 477 of them were first-year students.
One of those students is Paige Thibodeau. She's a freshman vet tech major at the University of Maine Augusta's Bangor Campus, but she almost couldn't attend school due to the cost.
"Being a vet tech has been a dream of mine since I was a very young child. um, this is the only vet tech program in the state of Maine and um, I know this is where I wanted to go. The issue was, the money part of it." She said.
Paige was awarded the Mitchell Scholarship which covered a good amount of the expenses, but there was still a portion of her schooling that was not covered.
"I can personally say that without this, I would not be in college today." She said.
Paige said if she wasn't given this opportunity she would continue waitressing and try to save enough money to attend UMA.
"You make the promise that we'll cover the last dollars of their tuition bill and their fee bill with institutional aid." Dan Demeritt, of the University of Maine System, said.
The University of Maine System says this initiative has contributed to a 2.5% increase in enrollment.
Currently, this program is offered to students at University of Maine Fort Kent, University of Maine Presque Isle, University of Maine Machias and University of Maine Augusta's campuses.
And for students like Paige, this program is allowing them live out their dreams.