We can’t let free community college slip away

By David Daigler, Maine Community College System president

One of Maine’s most popular and successful educational programs could come to an end if it is not funded in the state’s next budget. Don’t let tuition-free community college go down in Maine history as an interesting experiment!

It is so much more than that.

Maine’s Free College program — a last-dollar scholarship covering a community college student’s tuition and fees — is bringing hope to high school graduates who didn’t ever think they could afford college. It’s offering an incredible opportunity to students who want to enter the trades. It’s encouraging young, ambitious people to consider their possible careers. It’s giving students a deeply discounted start to a four-year degree.

It’s not just the students who benefit. This popular program is widening the pipeline of skilled workers entering Maine’s workforce. It’s increasing transfers to the University of Maine System. It’s attracting more young men to college, reversing a decline in male students. It’s spiking demand in community college healthcare, construction, and trade programs.

The Free College students are successful in college and getting a great start as they enter their careers. Their success demonstrates their determination to take full advantage of this tremendous opportunity.

So, if the program is so great — and popular — and successful, why is it at risk?

The state’s current financial commitment ends with this year’s senior class — the Class of 2025. 

After that, Free College is over … unless.

Unless the Legislature supports ongoing funding for the program, a proposal that Gov. Janet Mills has championed from the beginning and made a centerpiece of her biennial budget recommendation.  

Maine legislators are debating the budget now, and there is a very real chance that Free College will continue to get popular support, but not get funded at the end of the session. And a once-bright hope — a flicker of opportunity — will be extinguished.

It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth the state’s investment to give hope to a young person, to help them help themselves, and ultimately launch a skilled worker into the job market or on their way to a four-year degree.

Financially, it’s a bargain, with great ROI for the state and its businesses. Competitively, the surrounding states all have Free College programs — more than 30 states do. Maine would go backwards to abandon it now. 

Let me be plain: This is an investment that’s worth it. If you think so too, let your state representative or senator know.

Know someone who’s underemployed? Would the chance to learn a skilled trade — plumbing, construction, machining, biology, aquaculture, nursing — have made a difference in their lives? You bet, if they’d had a shot at it.

Let’s make sure high school graduates continue to get a shot at tuition-free community college.

Because there is no better time to earn a college degree than when you are young. No better time to get the skills you need than before life’s complexities become insurmountable. There is no better time to dream, than when dreams are within reach. 

Let’s keep our promise: Continue tuition-free college in Maine!