The Sun Journal, February 23, 2003
Technical colleges look to boost enrollment
By Lindsay Tice Staff Writer
Two years ago, Sean Moore realized he needed more education.
The St. Dominic Regional High School graduate had worked for a year in the “real world,” and he knew he wanted something more than his job at a local record store. He thought school could help him find it.
He looked at the University of Maine System and other area colleges, but it was Central Maine Technical College in Auburn that got his attention. The course catalog offered the writing, philosophy and history classes he wanted.
By enrolling in the school's new liberal studies program he could earn a two-year associate's degree, transfer all of his credits to a four-year college and get a bachelor's degree with two years of additional work.
Plus, Moore said of the $2,040-a-year technical college, “It was the cheapest around.” Moore's story is a common one in the Maine Technical College System. Enrollment has grown to more than 7,500 students at the state's seven technical colleges. But system officials say the institutions have been held back by their reputation as “voc schools.” And in a state where only 55 percent of graduates go on to college, they believe Maine can't afford to drive away potential students.
It's time, they say, to make a change.
“We looked at the future and saw there was really a need for a true community college,” said Maine Technical College System President John Fitzsimmons.
Studies show that Maine students graduate from high school in record numbers, but only about 55 percent go on to higher education, compared to a 60-percent national average.
Less than 25 percent of Maine adults have bachelor's degrees and only 5.4 percent of people 25 and older had an associate's degree in 2000.
As the state continues to lose low-skilled but highly paid shoe factory and paper mill jobs, the Maine Department of Labor warns that the state's job market is changing. Officials project that Maine jobs will increasingly require a college education and those requiring an associate's degree will grow by 27 percent in 10 years.
“Without a community college, we're really not going to get to those critical numbers,” Fitzsimmons said. “Community colleges can be a stepping stone.”
Maine has had no dedicated community college, a school that would offer extremely low tuition, extended hours, strong academic support and open enrollment to anyone interested in a two-year degree.
Instead, students could go to a technical college, which once was reserved for students interested in learning a trade or a technical skill. Or they could attend a university, which was considered more academic, designed for those interested in pursuing other professional careers that required a bachelor's or graduate degree.
In the early 1980s, Maine politicians began talking about creating a community college system. But it wasn't until 1998 that the Maine Technical College and University of Maine systems formed the Community College Partnership of Maine to look at ways to increase access to two-year programs and make college more affordable.
‘Calling card’
In the technical colleges, Fitzsimmons quietly pushed for change.
During the spring of 1999, the Board of Trustees voted to freeze tuition at $68 per credit hour, or about $2,040 a year. Tuition has remained the same since.
In the fall of 1999, all seven technical colleges began offering an associate in arts degree, which allowed students to take a combination of humanities, math and social sciences courses, earn a two-year degree and go to work or transfer those liberal arts credits toward a four-year degree at another school.
Although a staple of the nation’s community colleges, the liberal arts program was a first for Maine’s technical schools, where automotive technology, business management and other occupational programs reigned for decades.
Over the past few years, the state’s technical colleges have added weekend and evening courses to make class schedules more flexible for parents, displaced factory workers and other nontraditional students. Officials signed transfer arrangements with the University of Maine System and other area colleges and universities to make the transfer of course credits easier.
Speaking to business leaders, lawmakers and educators across the state, Fitzsimmons said he believes Maine can boost its number of college bound students with a community college system — schools that cater to people who aren’t fully prepared for higher education, who aren’t entirely sure what they want to do for a career and who are scared by the cost of college.
“‘Community College’ becomes a calling card,” he said. “A community college opens the doors.”
His seven-year, $23.3 million proposal would expand programs, add faculty, reduce tuition and increase enrollment from 7,500 students to between 10,000 and 11,000 students by 2010. A proposed $20 million bond would help pay for building repairs and upgrades and classroom equipment.
The plan would rid the schools of their “technical college” reputation, changing the Maine Technical College System to the Maine Community College System.
Fitzsimmons and other proponents of the plan believe a community college system would be a winning situation for everyone.
More Mainers would have a low-cost, easy entry into higher education. The University of Maine System could focus its resources on educating college students rather than helping people who aren’t quite ready for higher education.
“I think it’s an excellent plan. It takes Maine where it needs to be. It takes Maine where 47 other states already are,” said CMTC president Scott Knapp.
In the past, some technical college faculty have worried that their schools would lose the traditional —and popular— technology programs if the schools became community colleges.
Automotives, computer technology, nursing and other programs are expensive to run, with equipment that can cost thousands of dollars to buy, maintain and repair. Community college liberal arts and general studies programs cost little in comparison.
“I was a little bit nervous,” said Greg Fletcher, chairman of the Trades and Technology Department at Kennebec Valley Technical College in Fairfield.
But Maine Technical College officials have tried to put those fears to rest. Fitzsimmons has even said he’d leave the system if it abandoned its occupational programs.
Fletcher remained nervous, he said, until he took a close look at the community college concept. And until he realized that a handful of liberal studies students had transferred into his technical programs over the past year. That move is likely to be repeated more often in a community college. It would be easy for liberal studies students to enroll at the school, explore their interests and then transfer to a technical program that may be a better fit.
Some University of Maine System faculty have been nervous about the community college proposal, too.
For decades, various campuses, including the University of Maine at Augusta, filled in Maine’s community college gap.
While tuition was higher than the average community college and enrollment was not completely open, the schools offered two-year degrees, some academic support and dozens of convenient locations.
With a new community college system, faculty worried that they could lose their niche and their students.
But studies show that the university could ultimately see a boost in enrollment as students take advantage of cheap community college tuition to explore higher education and then transfer to a university for a four-year degree.
According the Governor’s Office, 1,400 students now transfer from the state’s technical colleges to its universities.
Officials believe that number could more than double by 2010 with community colleges.
“They can be a great feeder system to the university,” said University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal.
Some have also worried that a community college system could duplicate the classes, support services and facilities of the University of Maine System. Such duplication could divide already scarce resources and cost the state money.
To help with that change, Maine Technical College and University of Maine System officials two weeks ago created a Coordinating Advisory Committee. The committee will provide the communication needed as the technical colleges become community colleges.
The money
While many of those originally opposed to the community college plan have now accepted the change, there is still a stumbling block: money.
Fitzsimmons’ plan called for an initial investment of $6.3 million next year to hire more faculty, handle increased enrollment and buy classroom equipment. He wanted an additional $2.4 million to lower tuition from $68 to $52 per credit hour.
But with Maine facing a $1 billion shortfall over the next two years, state aid is limited. Gov. John Baldacci has long lauded the community college plan for Maine, but he earmarked only $1 million for the transition in his new two-year budget proposal.
He’s asked for a $2 million bond for community college classroom equipment.
It will mean adding fewer students and staff over the next two years, Fitzsimmons said. But the $1 million will likely allow the system to keep tuition flat and add some academic support.
“It’s less than we needed but it was more than we could have hoped for,” Fitzsimmons said. “We will absolutely go forward with our plan to become community colleges.”
Right now, every campus in the Maine Technical College System is looking to change its accreditation, a necessary move if students want to transfer community college credits to a four-year school outside Maine.
The governor’s office is drafting legislation to change the Maine Technical College System to the Maine Community College System.
The bill will be submitted this session and technical college officials expect a name change by next fall.
It’s a change that will be too late for Caroline Ward, a 20-year-old student at CMTC.
She plans to graduate this spring. But as a liberal studies major who enjoyed small classes, low tuition rates and a start in her chemistry career, she said she’s already gotten a taste of what a community college will be like for the students who follow in her footsteps.
Said Ward, “I think it’s a great choice for anyone to go on to a four-year school and it will be even better when we become a community college. Once we get that name.”
ltice@sunjournal.com