As local students look ahead to the start of the fall semester, those planning to move away to college may be reconsidering choices.

According to Deborah Meehan, Director of the University of Maine at Augusta’s Rockland Center (URock), this is the time of year when she starts hearing from students that they may be deciding not to attend the college they had planned on.

“Tuition bills start coming in and there are many decisions to make. They begin to realize that maybe they have not made a good choice, and so they start exploring local options,” said Meehan. Economic decisions and emotional decisions become real in August, and Meehan adds that her staff is happy to help folks find the right path.

The UMA Rockland Center offers full UMA degree programs in popular subjects such as teacher education (birth to 5, K – 3, K – 8, 9-12 and special education), computer information systems, mental health and human services, business administration, criminal justice studies, liberal studies, nursing, medical laboratory technology and more.

Meehan noted that UMA Rockland has scholarships for first-time college students, returning students and other forms of financial aid through the normal FAFSA process.

“We work to find the financial resources to help students get going whether they are first-time college students or returning after stopping out,” she added.  Meehan noted that funds are still available through the Osher Scholarship, the URock Scholarship and the Adult Degree Completion Scholarship.

Meehan says that the quality of academic programming, classroom instruction and student support at UMA Rockland is competitive anywhere.

Interested students exploring options are encouraged to call the UMA Rockland Center at 596-6906 to schedule a free academic advising appointment.  More information is also available at uma.edu/rockland.  The fall term starts September 4.