BIDDEFORD — The University of New England welcomed the Class of 2027 on Sunday, Aug. 27, as approximately 450 new Nor’easters moved into the Biddeford campus to start the fall semester.

The incoming class includes approximately 700 students hailing from 32 states and is the most ethnically diverse undergraduate class at the University of New England to date. The Class of 2027 also includes more than 190 first-generation college students who arrived on campus on Thursday, Aug. 24.

Undergraduate classes begin Wednesday, Aug. 30. 

The University of New England continues to see strong enrollment in its most popular undergraduate majors, including marine sciences, nursing, and medical biology, in addition to other high-demand programs in business, education, and the social sciences.

Recently, the University of New England was named to The Princeton Review’s Best 389 Colleges list for the ninth consecutive year, an honor achieved by less than 15% of four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The university was also named in Money Magazine’s annual Best Colleges list, which analyzes quality and affordability for higher education institutions.

The University of New England is Maine’s largest private university, with campuses in Biddeford and Portland and a study-abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco.