AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage today released the following statement about the University of Maine System Board of Trustees vote to extend the tuition freeze at Maine's public universities into the 2016-17 academic year.

"I commend the Board of Trustees for their vote to hold off a tuition increase for another year. We are committed to ensuring that higher education in Maine is affordable and accessible. Today's vote means that students at the University of Maine schools will have lower student loan payments when they graduate providing them more opportunity with less debt to build a future in Maine."

This additional year of flat tuition allows time for the Blue Ribbon Commission to Reform Public Education Funding and Improve Student Performance, created in LD 1641, to develop recommendations regarding state funding levels and tuition rates for Maine's public higher education institutions, as well as opportunities to better connect the University and Community Colleges to Maine's K-12 education system.