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12/26/2007

Maine does a great job of educating our students, with some of the highest graduation rates in the nation and perennially strong science, math and reading scores.

But when it comes time for those same students to take their knowledge to college, where they can gain the skills that will allow them get high-paying jobs in industries such as health care and research and development, something bad happens.

Not only do many of the students who had aspired to college fail to enroll, but the gap between aspirations and college attendance is growing.

In 2001, 64 percent of Maine's high school graduating class planned to enroll immediately in college but only 62 actually enrolled, according to the Senator George J. Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute's Barriers report. By 2005, 70 percent of graduating seniors statewide said they planned to enroll but only 60 percent did.

Last year, the number of Maine students who actually enrolled in college within a year dropped to 57 percent, a drop of 5 percent in one year and lower than the national and New England average.

This is a problem not just for students but also for the economy and all of us as taxpayers.

Fewer students enrolling in college means fewer graduating with the skills needed to staff and support new knowledge- and information-based industries. Fewer college graduates means fewer residents earning high wages and paying proportionately high taxes.

There are plenty of reasons for the gap, among them the growing cost of college, which seems particularly out of reach for students from rural areas, and the fact that many students live in isolated parts of the state where commuting to college is difficult.

Until now, however, while the problems have been clear, solutions have been few.

A series of initiatives announced last week by the Maine Community College System aims to address these challenges by building on its growing success in reaching out to all Maine students, regardless of their background or hometown.

Maine's community college system has a record of accessibility, with seven campuses across the state, from Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle to Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield and York County Community College in Wells.

The $6.2 million privately funded program aims to improve on that with a $5 million scholarship fund, $245,000 to expand services and programs offered through interactive television and $60,000 to make 250 college courses available to high school juniors and seniors.

A gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation makes up $3.5 million of the program's funding with $1.5 million in matching funds coming from other private sources.

That money will make a real difference, particularly when matched with Maine's community college system's record of efficiency and their strong links to industry.

Community colleges offer the lowest tuition in Maine, they serve mostly Maine students -- 95 percent of first-year Maine community college students are Maine residents -- and about 93 percent are employed in jobs in Maine upon graduation.

Maine's Community College System is going a long way to address the problems that block too many students from the best futures they can earn. This privately funded program will help them go even further.

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