Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, May 3, 2007
Editorial: An investment with a big pay off
In lean times, it's hard to argue for more spending.
But that's precisely what Maine needs to do if it's to invest in the future.
Since the establishment of the community college system several years ago, applications to the seven campuses have taken off. Over the last four years, enrollment has jumped 47 percent.
That success has bred a crisis: There's not enough supply to meet the demand.
Maine's aspiring college students are applying in droves for what is the best deal around -- a college education that's the cheapest by far of any in the state and which results in 96 percent of graduates finding jobs in Maine.
The community colleges are clearly filling a need -- they just can't fill it all. Instead, they're turning away applicants because the system doesn't have enough teachers and support staff. Southern Maine Community College in Portland, for example, has had to turn away 1,100 health science program applicants.
The solution is to build more capacity in the system.
That's not just a solution to the rising demand on the community college system, it's a solution that would serve to answer a significant problem facing the state as well. We have skilled jobs that pay good wages that Mainers can't fill because they don't have the necessary skills. We have Mainers who don't go on to college because they don't think they can afford it. So they're consigned to low-wage jobs that can't support their families' needs. The community college system is the bridge between the frustration of low-wage, unskilled jobs and rewards of higher-wage, skilled employment.
The Legislature is the midwife to this solution. They're going to have to reach into state coffers and come up with money to pay for expanding enrollment in the state's community colleges.
The governor's Community College Advisory Council recommended a $20.3 million increase in the system's budget to allow it to accept 4,000 more students. That breathtaking amount is clearly not politically viable in a time of budget constraints. But a proposal floated by Democrats to hike the system's allocation by $4 million over the next two years isn't viable either. That would only allow an additional 500 students to enroll.
It's a cruel thing to tell someone who wants a chance at a better life that the door's closed. Yet there just isn't enough money in this state to allow everyone who wants a slot at a community college to go there. Nevertheless, as lawmakers debate the budget, they must recognize that an investment in our state's students is truly an investment in our state's future. Even if it takes cutting elsewhere, allowing at least 1,000 new students access to opportunity in the community college system is a goal worth striving for.