UMFK is a small campus at the top of Maine on the Canadian border and if you love fishing, hunting, winter sports, kayaking and biking, this is the place to be. Each winter, the town of Fort Kent hosts the annual CanAm Crown Sled Dog race, a qualifier for the Iditarod. This community was the proud site of the 2004 Biathlon World Cup, an event combining nordic skiing and marksmanship. Our success in hosting over 18,000 spectators from around the world led to our recognition as "the little town that could" and a planned repeat of the World Cup here in February 2010. Situated where the Fish River meets the St. John, the Allagash Wilderness is a thirty minute drive from campus along the beautiful St. John Valley. Both alpine skiing and 23 miles of nordic skiing trails are right here. There is no better place to study and enjoy the outdoors. We emphasize experiential learning where you don't just read about facts and ideas - you actually engage in the in the dialogue and get out into the environment.

We were founded as the Madawaska Training School in 1878. Today, UMFK pursues a three-part mission:

1. To focus on the needs of rural communities in America,
2. To celebrate and explore this region's unique Franco/Acadian heritage and
3. To study and preserve Maine's beautiful forests and wilderness.

Our goal it to be Maine's premier rural public university; educating students to become responsible citizens committed to envrionmental stewardship through experiential learning. "Our faculty members are here because they love to teach." That's what our students said about us according to The Princeton Review when they selected UMFK as a "Best Northeast College" for the fifth year in a row in 2009.

The Town of Fort Kent is a friendly community of 4200 people. In 2014, the St. John Valley will host the World Acadian Congress. Many of the families who reside here are of Acadian and French-Canadian heritage and French is commonly spoken in town. If a small caring environment where you know all of your professors and your classmates sounds good to you, check out this site and learn more. Then come and visit. We'd love to show you around!

Sincerely,

Dr. Richard W. Cost
President