Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X I V J U LY 8 , 2 0 1 9 16 A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E It also offers eligible omas College undergraduates the chance to earn a degree in three years, or a master's in four, which not only puts them on a faster career path but also saves a year in costs. Tuition plus room and board this past academic year was $38,150. As of this year, Lachance says that all disciplines, including education, will offer accelerated degrees through the Kiest-Morgan Scholars Program. A handful of students who chatted with Mainebiz in the library overlooking the campus commons said the Kiest- Morgan programs were a big factor in their college choice. Alister Piccini, 19, of Winslow, who just finished his sophomore year, is an accounting major enrolled in the four- year program to earn a bachelor's and a master's, and said he chose omas College because it was the most afford- able school he looked at. He also says he went for accounting because "I didn't want to be the 'Wolf of Wall Street,'" and is taking classes this summer in business law and accounting. Jimmy Sargent, 20, a third-year undergraduate finance major who's minoring in accounting, will graduate next year with one internship under his belt and service at a local food bank. He's not worried about his post-college path. "Having a guaranteed job lined up makes it far less risky," he says. Among non-business majors, 19-year-old Audrey Kimball is an English major going into her second year as a second-semester sophomore and hopes to get her degree in just two-and-a-half years of undergradu- ate study. Her extracurricular activities include giving tours of the campus she fell in love with at first sight. It hap- pened while driving home from a day of visiting other colleges — an impulse stop suggested by her mom. Kimball now thinks of omas College as home, saying: "I knew that it would be a place I could thrive, and I haven't once regretted my decision." Gainful employment Among Class of 2019 graduates settling into new jobs is Makenzie Carlow, a management degree recipient now working as a deposit operations special- ist at Kennebec Savings Bank, which she had gotten to know through internships. Her father and brother also attended omas College, and she hopes to go back for her master's. "It was definitely a good stepping stone to get me into my future," she says. Back at CGI, Alex Small says he enjoys explaining cybersecurity to clients who don't necessarily understand tech- nology and applying what he learned at omas College. He's not the only grad- uate to work or intern at the company, which plans to keep looking for new hires at the school in its own backyard. "We want to be a lot larger than 30 people," says Joshua Karstens, director of consulting for CGI's New England business unit in Waterville. "To have that talent pipeline so close to us is ben- eficial to our growth." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s Securities Offered Through Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC a Registered Investment Adviser » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E F O C U S P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Audrey Kimball, 19, hopes to earn a degree in English in two-and-a-half years. She also gives a tours of the Thomas College campus for prospective students.

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