PARIS – Pursuing a college education can be an intimidating and expensive proposition, high school and college students said Tuesday at a forum here. No wonder many decide not to try.

Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell is hoping to change that perception, at least among Maine teens. He met with students thinking of going to college, as well as those already enrolled, in an effort to both gather and disseminate information about higher education options.

Discussion centered on the application process. Students also talked about the high cost of college and ways around it.

Tuition at his school is approaching $40,000 a year, said Bowdoin College student Jason Long, who moderated the hour-long event at the University, College and Career Center in South Paris.

Long is one of several college students who received scholarships through the Mitchell Institute.

“I don’t know what I would have done without it,” he said.

“One of the problems in society is the rapidly escalating cost of higher education,” Mitchell said. Tuition at the University of Maine System is often unaffordable for Maine families whose average income falls below the national average.

“I think the financial aspect is the biggest decision I had to make,” said Whitney Emens, a senior at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

Students said they tapped their high school counselors for information about scholarships and grants. Johann Von Hoffman of Orono, a sophomore at Colby College, said he found a “ton of stuff” on the Internet. “There are a ton of people giving away money to kids who want to go to school,” he said.

Mitchell, who served in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1995 and served six years as majority leader was in Maine on a two-day tour that included the forum, hosted by the Mitchell Institute of Portland. The former senator founded the Mitchell scholarship research institute five years ago, both to oversee the Mitchell Scholarships and to address obstacles to obtaining a college education.

He established the Mitchell Scholarship Program in 1995, with the goal of increasing educational opportunity for Maine students. As of this spring, 1,000 Maine students have received more than $3.8 million to help pay for higher education costs, according to press materials.

Every year since 1995, one graduating senior from each of Maine’s high schools has been selected to receive a Mitchell scholarship. Each award is typically for $4,000, paid out over the four year attendance at the school. One student in each of Maine’s 16 counties who is a first generation college enrollee receives $1,500 in each of the four years. One-third of all Mitchell scholars are first generation college students.

In 2003, 95 percent of students who received Mitchell scholarships attended colleges and universities in Maine.
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