The University of Maine at Presque Isle has launched a bold, new ad campaign today, embracing vivid colors, striking imagery, and compelling student stories as it shares what makes the campus so special. The campaign—EXPECT the unexpected—illustrates how UMPI provides, as the tagline says, “An education that defies expectation.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be sharing this campaign with the public and showcasing the many elements that set our campus apart,” UMPI President Ray Rice said. “Embedded in the campaign is the notion that you can find great things in the most unexpected places, and that is most certainly the case at UMPI—a small, public university in northern Maine that is constantly innovating, believes deeply in personalized learning, and was the first in Maine to offer a comprehensive program to provide free and significantly reduced tuition for eligible Maine families.”
Innovation, personalization, and affordability are recurring themes in the EXPECT campaign, and an important feature within affordability is the program UMPI established in 2017 that provides free and significantly reduced tuition for eligible Maine students through two awards.
UMPI’s Free for Four Award is for full-time, Pell Grant eligible students from Maine (both first-time and transfer students) and covers the annual cost of tuition and fees through grant and scholarship funds—a savings of nearly $8,000 per year. UMPI’s For Maine Families Award is for full-time, non Pell eligible Maine students and reduces tuition and fees by $3,900 or more through financial aid grants and scholarships. These awards help Maine students to finish their college degree in four years and pay just a fraction of what they would otherwise pay. For details and eligibility for these awards, please visit expect.umpi.edu.
In addition to these themes, the campaign features a number of visual elements, including duo-tone images and striking photo subjects literally spotlighted by colorful circles. An especially unexpected touch is how the word EXPECT, in bold gold, interplays with these photo subjects.
At the heart of the campaign are the students—their voices, their stories, and their passion both for their educational and career pursuits and for the place and the people that have supported and inspired them along the way. To view some of these student spotlights, be sure to check out UMPI’s online viewbook and UMPI’s EXPECT the Unexpected video. “Our work to help our students on their path to self-discovery is vital and our faculty and staff take on that responsibility very seriously,” President Rice said. “As it says in our campaign, at UMPI, you should… ‘Expect to be inspired. Expect coursework with real-world impact. Expect everyone to be invested in your success.’”