The University of Southern Maine is a multi-campus public comprehensive university and part of the University of Maine System. USM's three primary campuses are located in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. Many courses and degree programs are also offered online. It was founded as two separate state universities, Gorham Normal School and University of Maine at Portland. The two universities were combined in 1970 to help streamline the public university system in Maine and eventually expanded by adding the Lewiston campus in 1988.The Portland Campus is home to the Edmund Muskie School of Public Service, the Bio Sciences Research Institute, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and the Osher Map Library, and the USM School of Business. The Gorham campus, much more residential, is home to the School of Education and Human Development and the School of Music. MeMUNC is hosted here every year.USM is among the "Best Northeastern Colleges," according to the Princeton Review's 2007 listings, and was also included in its 2007 edition of "America's Best Value Colleges." As of 2012, USM had 7,500 undergraduate students and 2,320 graduate and law school students, with an average class size of 25 and a student-faculty ratio of 15:1. Controversial decisions by the university administration to cut programs and fire up to 50 faculty led to student-led protests on the campus in 2014.
