A Mitchell scholarship is earmarked for each high school.
PARIS – Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell will field questions for an hour here Tuesday as part of a forum focusing on education.

His visit to the University, College and CareerCenter, 232 Main St., South Paris, adjacent to the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, is part of a two-day trip through Maine calling attention to the Mitchell Scholarship Program, according to Marge Medd, a local resident who’s helping organize the forum.

Medd is a former chairman of the State Board of Education and served on the task force that created Maine’s Learning Results program.

She said Mitchell, who represented Maine in the nation’s upper chamber from 1980 to 1995, is expected to arrive at the University Center at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The forum is scheduled to run from 5 to 6 p.m.

It’s open to the public.

Mitchell established the scholarship program in 1995, after completing Senate duties that included service as majority leader. Its core mission is to increase the likelihood that young people from every community in Maine will aspire to, pursue and obtain college degrees, according to a program fact sheet.

Medd said the program provides about 130 scholarships annually to young Mainers. A scholarship is earmarked for a student attending each high school in the state, she said.

The scholarships typically total $4,000, awarded at a rate of $1,000 for each year of college attended. One scholarship in each county is awarded at a rate of $6,000, or $1,500 per year, and is given to first-generation college students.

Selection is based on academic promise, financial need and a history of community service.

Jason Long, a Mitchell scholar attending Bowdoin College and a 2001 graduate of South Portland High School, will moderate Tuesday evening’s forum.