POLAND – Seniors at Poland Regional High School have a new requirement to meet this year: They must apply to college.

The new policy requires students to submit applications to at least one college, university or trade school. Poland Regional will provide financial help with application fees, which can be as much as $60.

Students do not have to be accepted by a college, but they must apply to one in order to qualify for their high school diplomas.

School administrators believe the move will raise student aspirations and boost college attendance.

“Too often, I think, people view high school graduation as an exit, as opposed to an entry,” said Dean of Students Ray Lafreniere.

About 85 percent of Maine students graduate from high school, but only 68 percent say they will go on to higher education, according to the Maine Department of Education. Poland Regional has had better success, with 86 percent of last year’s graduates planning to go to college. But Principal Derek Pierce said he is determined to show the remaining 14 percent that they can go, too.

“We believe each of our kids can succeed in post-secondary school,” he said.

Pierce said school officials came up with the idea during a brainstorming session. He knew one school in Rhode Island had successfully required college applications, and he agreed it might work in Maine.

Leading the way

Maine Department of Education officials believe that the 560-student Poland Regional is the first high school in Maine to make college applications mandatory.

Some Poland students think it’s a good idea.

Senior Bryan Blomberg said he didn’t have any career goals and had planned simply to go to work for a while after graduation. He knew college was an option, he said, but “I didn’t want to go into college not knowing what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to waste my time.”

Now that the school is forcing him, the 17-year-old said he will apply to college. It will give him another option.

“You kind of get a comfort zone,” he said.

Blomberg and his classmates believe the new requirement will help students, but they see potential problems.

They wonder whether it will add one more stress to an already stressful senior year. They wonder whether some students will balk at applying to college just because teachers tell them they must.

“If someone’s forcing them to do it, they’re probably going to make it worse,” said 17-year-old Meghan Ford.

Looking at options

Meghan McNally said she knows one classmate who has his future planned. But that plan doesn’t include college.

“He wanted to go to the Navy,” said McNally, 18. “For him, applying to college is pointless.”

Principal Pierce said the school is happy to see students enter the military or the Peace Corps after graduation. But he is not yet sure whether either will count toward the application requirement.

To ensure that students get enough help with their applications, senior English classes will spend time on college essays. And students will go over transcripts, recommendations and other application requirements during their daily meetings with mentors. The school will also provide an SAT prep class.

Poland Regional will use money from its Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant to pay for the SAT course and college application fees.

Pierce said his goal isn’t to get more Poland students into Harvard. It’s to get more students thinking about their futures.

“I hope there will be more kids having more options, a greater awareness of possibilities,” he said.

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