Maine ranking · Clery-reported enrollment 2024

The Largest Universities in Maine

Every Maine college and university that reports an enrolment to the U.S. Department of Education, ranked biggest first. Total enrolment counts online and distance students, so an institution with a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

12,029
Largest in Maine
33
Institutions reporting
1,635
Median Maine institution
#42
of 51 states by enrolment

University of Maine is the largest institution in Maine with 12,029 students

According to U.S. Department of Education campus-safety enrollment filings for 2024, University of Maine leads Maine at 12,029 students, and the five largest hold 50.6% of state enrollment. This list covers all 33 reporting institutions. Totals include online learners, so a large virtual programme can outrank a bigger physical campus.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

Largest in Maine
12,029
Institutions reporting
33
State students in top 5
50.6%
Median Maine institution
1,635

Maine in one line

University of Maine is the largest institution in Maine with 12,029 students, about 7x the 1,635 of the median institution in the state. 50.6% of every student in the state is enrolled at just these five institutions, so Maine's higher education is concentrated at the top.

12,029
students at University of Maine
50.6%
of state students, in the top 5
81,542
students enrolled across Maine
32
the #33 cutoff

Enrollment is total students reported in the OPE campus-safety disclosure for 2024, including online and distance learners. IPEDS supplies institution location and sector. The incident column is reported on-campus Clery Act incidents per 1,000 enrolled students.

Size joined to safety

Among the 13 mid-to-large campuses on this Maine size list, 8 report below the 1.58 national median incident rate per 1,000, 1 also rank in the national safest-50, and the list averages 2.15 against that 1.58 median (University of Maine itself reports 2.08).

13
mid-to-large campuses on this list
8
below 1.58 national median /1k
1
also in national safest-50
2.08
University of Maine rate /1k

Incident rates are on-campus Clery Criminal Offenses and VAWA reports per 1,000 enrolled students for campuses with enrollment ≥ 2,000 and a national safety rank. A lower rate is not a personal safety verdict, reporting culture and online enrollment dilute raw counts. See /rankings/safest-campuses for the size-fair national list.

What this ranking shows about Maine

Maine ranks 42nd by total enrolment among the states and DC, so even its largest institutions are modest against national leaders. The 33 institutions reporting enrolment here split 14 public to 19 private, so neither sector defines the top of this list on its own.

Ranking by total enrolment puts institutions with large online programmes above institutions with larger physical campuses, because a virtual student body is not limited by classrooms or housing. A list of the biggest campuses by students physically present would order differently, and neither list is more correct, because they answer different questions. Enrolment here is the total headcount an institution reported to the federal OPE reporting cohort, which counts undergraduate and graduate students together and makes no distinction between full-time and part-time study. A university with a very large part-time or continuing-education population can therefore outrank one with more students on campus on any given weekday.

The incident-rate column is here because institution size changes how a raw incident count should be read, not because a larger university is more or less safe. Two institutions with the same number of reported incidents are not comparable if one enrols five times as many students, so the column expresses incidents per thousand enrolled. A rate still reflects reporting practice as much as underlying risk: an institution that encourages reporting and investigates thoroughly can record more incidents than one that does neither, and that is the opposite of what a naive reading suggests. Institutions where most students study online show diluted rates, because the denominator counts students who never set foot on a campus. Read the column as context for the size ranking, never as a safety verdict, and see our methodology for how both figures are assembled. For the same institutions ranked by cost rather than size, see the cheapest colleges rankings, or browse every institution we hold a record for.

Comparing states? See the 50 largest universities in the US, or this state's campus safety profile.

Every reporting institution in Maine is listed below. Here is how their enrollments spread:

Maine enrollment distribution

Clery-reported enrollment · 33 Maine institutions · 2024

32 Top 100% higher than 0% of 33 Maine institutions

Show national distribution 0–2,000: 20 Maine institutions (61%). This entry sits in this band. 2,000–4,000: 6 Maine institutions (18%). Above this entry. 4,000–6,000: 2 Maine institutions (6%). Above this entry. 6,000–8,000: 4 Maine institutions (12%). Above this entry. 8,000–10,000: 0 Maine institutions (0%). Above this entry. 10,000–12,000: 0 Maine institutions (0%). Above this entry. 12,000–14,000: 1 Maine institutions (3%). Above this entry. Smallest on list 0 14,000 every Maine institution, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more Maine institutions. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey · 2024

All 33 ranked institutions in Maine

8
Husson University Bangor, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
3,367
Incidents /1k
2.08
12
Colby College Waterville, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
2,412
Incidents /1k
9.12
14
Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
1,881
Incidents /1k
6.91
16
Bates College Lewiston, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
1,760
Incidents /1k
6.25
17
Thomas College Waterville, ME · Private nonprofit
Enrollment
1,635
Incidents /1k
0.00
23
Beal University Bangor, ME · Private for-profit
Enrollment
504
Incidents /1k
0.00
# Institution EnrollmentIncidents /1k
1 University of Maine Orono, ME · Public 12,029 100% of the leader · rank #1 2.08
2 Southern Maine Community College South Portland, ME · Public 7,900 66% of the leader · rank #2 0.13
3 University of Southern Maine Portland, ME · Public 7,604 63% of the leader · rank #3 3.02
4 Unity Environmental University New Gloucester, ME · Private nonprofit 7,165 60% of the leader · rank #4 0.00
5 University of New England Biddeford, ME · Private nonprofit 6,573 55% of the leader · rank #5 1.52
6 Central Maine Community College Auburn, ME · Public 4,754 40% of the leader · rank #6 1.47
7 University of Maine at Augusta Augusta, ME · Public 4,412 37% of the leader · rank #7 0.00
8 Husson University Bangor, ME · Private nonprofit 3,367 28% of the leader · rank #8 2.08
9 University of Maine at Presque Isle Presque Isle, ME · Public 2,873 24% of the leader · rank #9 0.35
10 Eastern Maine Community College Bangor, ME · Public 2,719 23% of the leader · rank #10 1.47
11 Kennebec Valley Community College Fairfield, ME · Public 2,489 21% of the leader · rank #11 0.00
12 Colby College Waterville, ME · Private nonprofit 2,412 20% of the leader · rank #12 9.12
13 University of Maine at Farmington Farmington, ME · Public 2,100 17% of the leader · rank #13 6.67
14 Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME · Private nonprofit 1,881 16% of the leader · rank #14 6.91
15 York County Community College Wells, ME · Public 1,875 16% of the leader · rank #15 0.53
16 Bates College Lewiston, ME · Private nonprofit 1,760 15% of the leader · rank #16 6.25
17 Thomas College Waterville, ME · Private nonprofit 1,635 14% of the leader · rank #17 0.00
18 University of Maine at Fort Kent Fort Kent, ME · Public 1,562 13% of the leader · rank #18 0.00
19 Saint Joseph's College of Maine Standish, ME · Private nonprofit 1,454 12% of the leader · rank #19 4.13
20 Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME · Public 971 8% of the leader · rank #20 0.00
21 Northern Maine Community College Presque Isle, ME · Public 843 7% of the leader · rank #21 0.00
22 Washington County Community College Calais, ME · Public 805 7% of the leader · rank #22 0.00
23 Beal University Bangor, ME · Private for-profit 504 4% of the leader · rank #23 0.00
24 Maine College of Art & Design Portland, ME · Private nonprofit 475 4% of the leader · rank #24 4.21
25 College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor, ME · Private nonprofit 358 4% of the leader · rank #25 2.79
26 Spa Tech Institute-Westbrook Westbrook, ME · Private for-profit 263 4% of the leader · rank #26 0.00
27 Maine College of Health Professions Lewiston, ME · Private nonprofit 239 4% of the leader · rank #27 0.00
28 Capilo School of Hair Design Augusta, ME · Private for-profit 156 4% of the leader · rank #28 0.00
29 Empire Beauty School-Maine Portland, ME · Private for-profit 117 4% of the leader · rank #29 0.00
30 Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts Portland, ME · Private nonprofit 99 4% of the leader · rank #30 0.00
31 Northeast Technical Institute Scarborough, ME · Private for-profit 74 4% of the leader · rank #31 0.00
32 Maine Media College Rockport, ME · Private nonprofit 42 4% of the leader · rank #32 0.00
33 The Landing School Arundel, ME · Private nonprofit 32 4% of the leader · rank #33 0.00

What to do with this

Size is a starting filter for Maine, not a verdict on any institution.

Institutions below the reporting floor, or without enrolment in the Campus Safety and Security Survey cohort for 2024, do not appear on this list. IPEDS supplies classification and location.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Campus Safety and Security Survey (enrollment and Clery disclosures), joined to the IPEDS institutional directory (location and classification)

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Every figure on this page is computed at request time from the federal source tables; no ranking position or count is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-10-26.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.