Bangor Daily News, Feb. 8, 2000

Community college use outstrips expectation

By Gordon Bonin, Of the NEWS Staff

FAIRFIELD - Enrollment in community college courses offered through the Maine Technical College System is nearly three times higher than expected in the programs' first year.

Originally 150 students were expected to enroll in the program. As of last week, 434 had signed up for an associate of arts degree, according to the technical college system. An associate of arts degree is a two-year degree in liberal arts that acts as a foundation for a baccalaureate earned at a university.

''We thought there was a demand but didn't realize how much,'' said Gov. Angus King, who sees the community college partnership between the technical colleges and the University of Maine System as one of his gubernatorial legacies.

On Monday, King attended a class and then met with associate of arts students at Kennebec Valley Technical College in Fairfield. Officials at KVTC attribute the surging enrollment to several reasons. One is that it is a way for students to test the waters of liberal education without making the heavy investment in university courses, said Teresa Smith, career transfer counselor at KVTC.

By enrolling in the associate of arts degree program they can get some of their liberal arts requirements out of the way, said Kathy Moore, director of student services at KVTC.

She also thinks that many of the students who are now enrolled in the associate of arts degree were ''hidden among the undecideds in night courses.'' Instead of meandering along as general education students, they now can speed up their approach to a degree without declaring a specialty, she explained.

Also, by enrolling in a degree program they become eligible for financial aid, Moore added. A student taking six credits' worth of classes a semester is eligible for as much as $2,150 in aid, while a student with 12 credits is eligible for $4,300.

Gov. King has made the community college partnership a focus of his second term. ''We had the university system and the technical college system, but we had nothing in between,'' he said. ''We needed something to let people put a toe into higher education to see if they wanted to go on to a degree.''

He described the setup as a low-cost, low-stress, close-to-home doorway to higher education.

Amber Quint of Pittsfield, 20, is enrolled in the associate of arts program while trying to figure out what she wants to study.

She told the governor that what her brother pays to attend the University of Maine for one semester pays her way over two or three semesters.

The cost per credit hour in the associate degree program in the technical colleges is $68, vs. more than $100 in the university system. King said he would like to drive the cost down close to the national average for community colleges, which is roughly $45.

Cassie Cunningham of Dexter, 19, is getting her liberal arts requirements out of the way while waiting for a slot in KVTC's nursing program. She is the first member of her family to go to college.

''An associate degree gives everyone the chance to prove themselves,'' she said.

At KVTC, King sat in on a class in multiculturalism. For Black History Month the class was studying famous African Americans.

King, who is 55, talked to the class about growing up in Alexandria, Va., where he saw water fountains and restrooms marked ''white'' and ''colored'' in railroad stations.

A Washington Redskins fan, he told the class that the team was the southernmost in the National Football League when he was a kid. It was the last one to have black players because the owner feared he would lose his white Southern fans if the team fielded blacks, King said.

He remembered sitting in the stands with black fans from around Washington, D.C., who would cheer for out-of-town teams with black players, such as the Cleveland Browns and their star running back, Jim Brown.

This opening up of the NFL to black players jibes with his belief that the great strength of the United States is ''access,'' and the ability to improve one's lot.

No one is locked into a job or social class, King said. But, ''we have to keep opening access further to expand the talent pool."