University of Southern Maine
Looking for what other people say about USM and its location in and around Portland?
Portland recently was named one of the country's top 25 art destinations by American Style magazine.
Organic Gardening Magazine, in its February/March 2008 issue, selected Portland as one of America's greenest cities. The magazine reported, "Green is growing all over this coastal city—it has acres of parkland and trails." The story also cited city efforts to shrink its carbon footprint, adding, "…all city-owned diesel vehicles run on a mix of 20 percent vegetable-based biodiesel fuel and 80 percent regular diesel, and must adhere to an anti-idling ordinance."
In the summer of 2007, Outside Magazine named Portland one of the "Best Towns on the East Coast." The story cited, "the cobblestoned Old Port, with its boutiques, 'commitment ring' jewelers, and Irish pubs. A few blocks away sit the studio and arts districts, with tattooed baristas at gritty cafés, chic galleries, and, by sundown, live punk behind closed doors." By the way, Outside also reported a rumor that Portland has more ultimate-Frisbee leagues per capita than anywhere else.
Portland also has generated recent rankings as a "Top City for Creative People" (Kiplinger's Personal Finance) and has been voted "one of the twelve surprising, thriving and emerging travel destinations by the editors at Frommer's Travel Guides and Frommers.com." The other 11? Krakow, Poland; Glen Canyon, Utah; and Zurich, Switzerland, among others.
USM, with easy access to the recreational, cultural and educational opportunities of this region, has been named a Best Northeastern College for the 5th year in a row by The Princeton Review. The guide has noted USM's small class size, its library, a diverse student body and dedicated faculty members. The Princeton Review surveys some 58,000 students at the colleges featured in the book, who were asked to rate their institutions on everything from the teaching ability of their professors to the quality of campus food.
Finally, USM faculty and students are regular, statewide honorees of the Maine Campus Compact, an organization that promotes making public service an integral part of teaching and learning.
