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³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ graduates enjoy one of the greatest lifetime returns on investment in Maine, according to Affordable Colleges Online, a website reporting on higher education affordability. 

The website ranked ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ second in student return on investment (ROI) among 43 public and private colleges and universities in Maine, including four-year, degree-granting, fully accredited non-profit institutions.

Net tuition prices and graduates' average starting salaries and ROI calculation were key factors in the .  The ROI ranking utilized 30-year salary data from PayScale's 2013 College Earnings Report.

"We're pleased, though not surprised, by this ranking. The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ has always delivered an outstanding return on investment for our students," says ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ President Danielle Ripich, Ph.D. "In addition to graduating with an excellent education, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students move on to rewarding careers, competitive graduate programs, and valuable community service. In fact, 90 percent of ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Class of 2012 students are either employed in their field of choice or pursuing graduate/professional school."

The rankings were tabulated based on data provided by leading higher education sources:

• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education, which provides accurate indicators of education status and trends;
• Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS),the  primary federal source for data on colleges, universities, and technical and vocational postsecondary schools in the United States;
• Carnegie Classification, the framework widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty; and
• PayScale, which provides career-related data on a national, state, local, and individual basis.

Student loan default rates, a measure of students who are unable to pay back their loans, is another key measure of a university's return on investment. While the national student loan default rate is 13.4 percent and Maine's is at 11.5 percent, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's student default rate is just 3.3 percent.

"³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is the largest educator of health care professionals for the state of Maine. Our students are highly sought after and enter careers that are in great demand.  ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ graduates honor their financial obligations, which is both a source of pride for us and a reflection of the quality of students we attract," adds Ripich.