Bangor Daily News, July 24-25, 1999
New college link forged for Maine
Program to join resources of university, tech systems
ANGUS King calls it "the missing link" in Maine education, and he sees its successful establishment as one of his legacies as governor.
Just six weeks from now the first 150 students will begin taking classes in the state's nascent community college system. Maine is one of just a handful of states without such as system.
It will not be a new stand-along set of institutions. The community college programs will be woven into the technical colleges and tied to the university system. It will be fashioned out of materials already on hand in the two systems.
The approach is meant for students of limited means and those who want to test the waters of higher education before plunging into a university. The purpose of the new thrust is to have "a low-cost, low-stress, close-to-home entry point to [higher education]," Kind said.
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