It’s too bad that the university system here in Maine has to try to make the two-year program graduates look bad for not going on to a four-year program, as implied by the article in the June 1 Sun Journal, “USM grad rates decline.”

As a current non-traditional student at CMCC, I see many other non-traditional students – all trying to carve a better life for themselves and their children. Some are single moms with full-time jobs who courageously will not settle for welfare. That these brave people are entering the work force as taxpaying citizens, some of which are the first in their families to reach this auspicious goal, seems to be forgotten. Then to say “Too many people are getting two-year degrees and saying ‘I’m done’,” as Robert Blackman, chairman of the USM Board of Visitors is quoted as saying, is insulting.

That some who graduate are taking more than two years to attain that two-year degree should be a tribute to their determination – not a reason to try to shame them into sacrificing family and finances to accomplish their goal in a previously determined amount of time.

Congratulations graduates.

Ginger Gallin, West Sumner