WELCOME

Educate Maine first published our Education Indicators report over a decade ago, highlighting information on ten key data points throughout the education pipeline. In recent years, due to a variety of factors – such as improvements in data collection and reporting through the state’s Data Warehouse; upheaval in the education system due to the coronavirus pandemic; and other societal shifts – we’ve expanded the report to include multiple measures that reflect education access, progress, and success for Maine people from birth through adulthood.

Our objective with this report is to provide an accurate, up-to-date, and well rounded snapshot of Maine’s education system. We compile and publish reliable data that aims to facilitate a diverse audience’s understanding of the education continuum, including information on how opportunities and outcomes vary by student characteristics.

The report strives to be a resource for educational stakeholders at all levels by establishing a holistic framework that holds Maine students at the center. By offering a comprehensive overview of our education system and identifying areas for improvement, we encourage continuous reflection, dialogue, and purposeful action to support ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing educational outcomes for all learners in Maine.

Sincerely,

Jason Judd, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Educate Maine

INDICATOR SUMMARY

These data points highlight key takeaways from the report. Click on the green bar to see selected data for each category. Not all data points in the report are featured below. You can click on the “Read More” button in each section to see complete data by category, or navigate using the menus at the top of the page.

MAINE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

  • Maine’s public school enrollment in 2023-24 is 172,622 students, about 96% of total school enrollment prior to the pandemic (2019-2020 school year).

  • A significant portion of Maine students (38%) are considered economically disadvantaged.

  • Maine schools are more diverse than Maine’s population on the whole, comprising 12% students of color.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Access

  • 69% of Maine children under 6 have all available parents in the workforce.

  • 22% of Maine children live in a childcare desert.

  • About 47% of Maine 4-year-olds are enrolled in publicly-funded pre-K, which is offered by 79% of districts statewide.

Affordability

  • When care is available, the average cost of full-time, center-based infant care in Maine is $11,700 per year.

  • A two-parent family making the state’s median income spends an average of 14% of their yearly income on childcare for one child.

  • A single-parent family making the state’s median income spends an average of 45% of their yearly income on childcare for one child.

Quality

  • Less than 1 in 5 Maine childcare providers (19%) are at a step 3 or 4 of the Rising Stars for Maine rating system, which is considered “high quality.”

Workforce

  • Maine’s current childcare workforce is estimated to be around 7,600 people.

  • The median wage of early childhood educators ($32,080) is only 56% the median wage of kindergarten teachers ($57,500).

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K-12 EDUCATION

Student Well-Being

  • 33% of Maine middle school students and 35% of high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two weeks or more.

  • Over 1 in 4 Maine high school students reported experiencing four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences. This rate is increasing over time. The rate is higher for girls (33%) than for boys (20%).

  • 54% of middle school students and 50% of high school students in Maine report feeling like they matter in their community. These rates are dropping over time, meaning more and more students feel that they don’t matter.

For more data disaggregated by subgroup such as gender and race/ethnicity, click “Read More” below.

Career and Technical Education

  • There are over 10,000 students participating in 27 career and technical education regions and centers across Maine. This number is increasing over time.

High School Graduation

  • The Maine high school graduation rate has been steady at 87% over the past five years.

  • The high school graduation rate varies by subgroup. For example, 79% economically disadvantaged students graduate from high school on-time compared with 95% of their higher income peers. Girls graduate at a higher rate than boys (89% vs. 87%).

Chronic Absence

  • Chronic absenteeism is high in Maine since the pandemic. During the 2022-23 school year, 27% of students were chronically absent (missing 10 days or more of school).

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POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

College Enrollment and Completion

  • 54% of Maine high school graduates enrolled in college in the fall of 2022, compared with 60% in fall 2019, prior to the pandemic.

  • College enrollment rates vary significantly by student subgroup, with notable gaps by student economic status, gender, race, multilingual learner status, and student disability status. For example, fewer than half (48%) of young men enroll in college the fall after graduating from high school. Only half (50%) of economically disadvantaged students persist to their second year of college.

  • The 6-year college completion rate for Maine graduates is 61%, down from a pre-pandemic level of 64%.

Adult Education

  • 969 adults received a high school credential (diploma or HiSET) through Adult Education programs in the 2022-23 school year.

Postsecondary Degrees and Credentials of Value

  • 55% of Maine adults aged 25-64 hold a degree or credential of value – a precursor to skilled employment with family-sustaining wages.

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