91福利 Early College Pathways

91福利 Early College program offers career exploration pathway options.

Bananas the Bear 91福利 Mascot in Graduation Cap and Gown

91福利 91福利 Early College Pathways

  • Career Explorations: Working with an Early College Advisor to build, evolve, and complete an individualized pathway.  Students who may benefit from this Pathway type include:
  • Students still figuring out their interests who want guided exploration through Early College.
  • Students with specific majors or careers of interest.
  • Students with an interest and willingness to work with an Early College Advisor.
  • Self-Guided: Working independently or with a high school counselor/homeschool educator to follow a recommended pathway of courses around a set area of interest. Students who may benefit from this Pathway type include:
  • Students looking for a few course recommendations rather than a full Pathway.
  • Students who have already earned significant Early College credit and are nearing the end of their high school career.

Note: See below for more detailed information on each pathway type. 

A Pathway is an Early College plan based on your goals and interests. Pathway plans are made up of a set of courses that create a roadmap that can be focused on:

  • A specific career or major
  • A general career field or collection of majors
  • Core curriculum requirements (for students who are still exploring their interests)

Credits With Purpose
Students can earn meaningful, transferable credits that are more likely to fit into their future degree programs. This may allow for flexibility in course loads, study time, and additional opportunities, such as pursuing a double major, adding minors, studying abroad, or even completing a degree in a shorter time frame, which can save students money. Learn more about why this is important on our .

Clear Educational Roadmap
Pathways offer a structured plan that simplifies course selection, connects career interests with potential academic programs of relevance, and outlines a clear path from high school to college. This clarity enables students to make well-informed choices throughout their Early College experience.

Important Notes:
鈥 For more information about how courses transfer from one campus to another, you can find more information on the under Transfer Equivalency Information.

鈥 Alternative Early College Pathway options exist across the University of Maine System at other System universities. If you wish to explore those further, please visit the and communicate with their Early College office for more information.

Students talking at 91福利 table

Career Explorations Pathway

This option is centered around our Career Explorations Pathway. This is a flexible pathway designed to help students build their own five course Early College plan around their unique interests and goals. 

As a Career Explorations Pathways student, you would have the opportunity to partner with our Early College team and receive individualized advising. This advising experience is a collaboration between you and our team, primarily with our Early College Advisor. In this experience, we would help you:

  • Explore your goals and interests
  • Choose a Pathway Focus Area
  • Build your initial Pathway plan
  • Reflect on your course experiences
  • Make any changes to your plan along the way as your goals develop
  • Connect with 91福利 resources that are relevant to you
  • You will complete five total courses.
  • One required course for all Pathways: INT 193 – Introduction to Career Exploration & Development.
  • Both online and live/in-person sections can be counted.
  • At least three courses will be taken through 91福利 (Orono or Machias).
  • The remaining two courses can be from any other University of Maine System University or Maine Community College.
  • You will schedule and engage in at least three advising sessions.
  • We encourage Pathways students to use advising opportunities to enhance their experience. While there is no limit on how many sessions you can schedule, you are required to schedule and attend at least three online advising sessions with our team:
  • Pathway Trailhead Session: the initial meeting before starting a pathway.
  • Pathway Checkpoint Session: a check-in meeting to reflect on recent Early College experiences and make changes to the Pathway Plan as needed
  • Pathway Summit Session: a celebratory final session to reflect on your full Pathway journey, discuss your award materials, and take time to acknowledge all your hard work!
  • Important Note: Students are not “locked in” at any point in the Career Explorations Pathway experience. If you start your pathway and change your mind, it’s no big deal鈥攜ou still keep the course credits you earned!

If you鈥檙e interested in exploring this option, we encourage you to follow these steps:

  • .
  • Create an account in our (if you haven鈥檛 already).

Please choose the session type below that best fits where you are in your journey:

  • : Initial meeting before starting a pathway.
  • : Check-in meeting to reflect on recent Early College experiences. Must have completed PTS already.

Note: a Pathway Summit Session (PSS) link will be provided to you by your Early College Advisor once you鈥檝e reached that point in your pathway journey. 

Download Career Explorations Pathway

Pathway Student Experience

  • I started taking Early College classes as a first-year student at Brewer High School. Since then, I鈥檝e completed 64 college credits through 91福利. I鈥檝e also completed two Early College pathways.
    Student holds two 91福利 Early College pathway certificates
    Brady
    Business and Economics and Engineering and Computer Science Pathways Earner
  • The Early College pathway saved me [from taking] an extra year of college. I couldn鈥檛 have done this without 91福利 Early College Program.
    Kreft,S grad photo
    Sarah
    Psychology Pathway Earner
  • [Wearing the 91福利 pathway graduation cord] has inspired new high schoolers to try and work towards earning a pathway. I hope to see more students wearing one in future graduations!
    Pathway Student Graduation Photo

    Isabel
    Psychology Pathway Earner
Student in a classroom

I鈥檓 not interested in the career explorations Pathway. What are my other options?

We recommend you review our Self-Guided Pathway information below. These pre-made Pathway guides provide you with sets of recommended Core and Elective course options that are related to a broader area of interest.

If you just need help picking a single class for next semester or have a quick question, our team is here for the “short-term” stuff too. You can email our whole team at um.earlycollege@maine.edu, and we鈥檒l connect with you directly from there.

You can also review our Student Support page or to find what you鈥檙e looking for without waiting for an email response or scheduled appointment.

Self-Guided Pathways

These options are centered around our pre-made Pathway guides. These are sets of recommended Core and Elective course options that are related to a broader area of interest. Review our Self-Guided Pathways below:

  • There are no guidelines that you have to follow. These are guides that you can use to make informed decisions on which course(s) align best with your interests and goals.
  • That said, we do have recommendations:
  • Work closely with your high school counselor or homeschool educator.
  • They have to approve of any course you take anyways, so they鈥檙e a great person to explore your Pathway course options with.
  • Start with INT 193: Introduction to Career Exploration & Development.
  • This will help you explore and identify what your interests are, and you can use that to make decisions on courses moving forward.
  • Take an additional core course before moving into the elective options.
  • The listed recommended core courses tend to be more foundational, allowing you to explore the broader interest area before stepping into more specific elective courses.
  • Pace yourself, and use our to develop a realistic Pathway Plan.
  • We generally recommend taking 1-2 courses at a time. Set yourself up with a workload that allows you to get the most out of your class(es)!

SIgn up for a self-guided pathway by creating your own Pathway Plan in using our pathway guides. This allows you to map out which courses you want to take and when. Use the steps below:

1. Create an ExplorEC Account (or sign in if you already have one).

2. Find and click the 鈥淢y Career Pathway(s)鈥 tile on the homepage.

3. Review the information in the blue boxes.

4. Find the 鈥Start New鈥 blue bar, and search for your pathway using the filtering options:

a. Choose an Area of Study (e.g. 鈥淓ducation & Training鈥 for Teaching and Early Childhood Education Pathway).

b. Find our Campus: 鈥淯niversity of Maine (UM)鈥.

c. Select your counselor (if you attend a high school in Maine).

i. Not required for out-of-state or homeschooled students.

d. Select your pathway within the 鈥淪elect a Career Pathway鈥 option.

5. Review the description along the right side of the page.

6. Select 鈥淪ave & Continue to Next Step鈥 and use the following page to build out your Pathway plan.

  • The Pathway Status Definitions work differently for self-guided pathways. Because no Early College advisor is assigned, your pathway will only enter the following statuses:
  • Exploring Pathway – Creating Plan
  • Submitted – Working Toward Completion
  • Student Revising (must contact Early College team first)
  • Completed (must contact Early College team first)
  • Once a pathway plan is submitted, you will lose editing access to it.
  • If you wish to edit it at a later time, please contact our team at um.earlycollege@maine.edu so we can shift editing access back to you

Questions?

Email um.earlycollege@maine.edu.