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Home > Online Colleges > Military-Friendly > Maine > Portland
Key takeaway: 10 accredited institutions within 100 miles of Portland offer fully online programs and report both credit for military training and a dedicated point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families (IPEDS IC 2024); 8 report all four services the federal survey tracks. The nearest installation recorded by the Census Bureau is Coast Guard Base South Portland, about 3 miles away, and 8 installations sit within 100 miles (3 Navy, 1 Air Force, 2 Coast Guard, 2 National Guard). None of the 10 schools has a campus within 30 miles; the closest is Central Maine Community College in Auburn, ME, about 32 miles away. The highest-ranked by BOC Score is University of New Hampshire-Main Campus. Portland has a population of about 68,505 and a median household income of $76,174; 59.2 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year estimates).
Schools based in Maine that report credit for military training and a dedicated military contact, ordered by distance from Portland city center, with BOC Score on each card. The tags on each card are the school’s own IPEDS answers for the four military services. The distance table further down covers the nearest qualifying schools regardless of state line.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Portland. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
| School | Location | Credit for military training | Dedicated military contact | DoD MOU member | Student veteran org | BOC Score | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | Durham, NH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 74.7 | 50 mi |
| University of New Hampshire at Manchester | Manchester, NH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 74.2 | 77 mi |
| University of Massachusetts-Lowell | Lowell, MA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 73.2 | 89 mi |
| Emerson College | Boston, MA | Yes | Yes | No | No | 67.3 | 100 mi |
| Endicott College | Beverly, MA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 63.9 | 83 mi |
| Salem State University | Salem, MA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 62.4 | 87 mi |
| Middlesex Community College | Bedford, MA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 62.1 | 94 mi |
| Kennebec Valley Community College | Fairfield, ME | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 61.5 | 71 mi |
| Suffolk University | Boston, MA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 59.9 | 99 mi |
| Central Maine Community College | Auburn, ME | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 58.7 | 32 mi |
Maine has 17 military-friendly online colleges by this definition; the Maine page lists them all.
| Installation (as recorded by the Census Bureau) | Branch (from the name) | Distance from Portland |
|---|---|---|
| Coast Guard Base South Portland | Coast Guard | 3 mi |
| National Guard Hollis Plains Training Site | National Guard | 20 mi |
| Naval Air Station Brunswick | Navy | 23 mi |
| National Guard Auburn Training Site | National Guard | 28 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor | Coast Guard | 33 mi |
| Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Navy Housing) | Navy | 46 mi |
| Portsmouth Naval Shipyard | Navy | 47 mi |
| Pease Air National Guard Base | Air Force | 49 mi |
Median wages for occupations that veterans commonly move into after an online degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), shown for the Portland-South Portland, ME metro area where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Scope | Cost-of-living adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Security Analysts | $103,440 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $101,511 |
| Logisticians | $78,060 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $76,605 |
| Emergency Management Directors | $84,050 | ME statewide | $82,483 |
| Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers | $73,600 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $72,228 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | $127,650 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $125,270 |
| Project Management Specialists | $105,530 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $103,562 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | $92,520 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $90,795 |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $110,570 | Portland-South Portland, ME metro | $108,508 |
BLS publishes wages for metro areas and states, not individual cities; rows marked with the metro name are metro medians, the rest are statewide.
None of the 10 schools in the table has a campus within 30 miles of Portland; the nearest is Central Maine Community College at 32 miles.
Benefit eligibility is determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and your service’s education office. Nothing on this page guarantees education benefits, credit transfer, admission, or a particular cost. Confirm every detail with the school’s military or veteran services office before you enroll.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (IC 2024): veteran and military services indicators (VET2 through VET5), distance-education program flag (DISTPGS); BOC Score from College Scorecard and IPEDS outcome data; U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 Military Installations layer (installation names as recorded there); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities; Census ACS 5-year estimates. Directory counts as of the September 2026 refresh.
