AUBURN – Enrollment hit a record level at Maine’s community colleges this fall, with Central Maine Community College placing third among the state’s seven facilities.

In the first four years of the statewide two-year public college system, enrollment climbed 48 percent to 11,153 students. More students are entering the system directly from high school and an increasing number of the enrollees are young men.

Those successes were announced Wednesday afternoon following a meeting of the Maine Community College System board of trustees at Central Maine Community College.

“This is the best value for education,” said Gov. John E. Baldacci, who joined the MCCS leaders for the announcement.

“Our community colleges have more than lived up to their potential,” the governor said. “Their programs represent the heart of the Maine economy and the best hope for the future of the Maine people.”

The announcement took place in the CMCC dining commons where construction on a new residence hall could be seen nearby.

Scott Knapp, president of Central Maine Community College, said the construction project was initiated because of the enrollment trends. He said CMCC has 130 beds on campus now, and another 36 students are being housed at local hotels. The new residence hall will add 150 beds.

Knapp said, “We anticipate being up about 7 percent this year.”

The statewide MCCS statistics show Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield with the largest enrollment jump this fall. KVCC’s increase was 8.6 percent to 1,429 students.

The second largest increase was 6.8 percent to 4,690 students at Southern Maine Community College, South Portland.

MCCS statistics at the time of announcement showed CMCC with a 4.3 percent increase this fall to 1,714 degree the students.

John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, said Maine has lagged behind most other states in the number of citizens going to college, and the shift to a community college system four years ago was undertaken to correct that deficiency.

He said the number of students entering directly from high school is up 14.9 percent. Central Maine Community College had the highest gain with 214 students coming directly from high school, Fitzsimmons said.

Both Fitzsimmons and Baldacci praised the success of this past year’s Early College for ME program, which targets students who have traditionally not gone to college but who have the academic potential to succeed in college.

The MCCS report said 41 percent of the record enrollment figures of the past year come from the Early College for ME program.

That program also demonstrates that participants know what they want to do with their lives because 73 percent of them enroll in occupational programs, Baldacci noted.

As examples of the system’s success, he introduced three Central Maine Community College students. They are:

• Ryan Hawes of Farmington, who is the first person in his family to go to graduate from high school and the first to go to college. Now a second year student, he plans to work toward a bachelor’s degree following community college graduation, and he hopes to pursue a career in communications.

• Debra Lyons, a U.S. Navy veteran, returned to Central Maine after six years of military service. She looks forward to graduating with a degree in human services, the governor said.

• Eric Spaulding, who is a 2006 graduate of Lewiston High School, participated in the Early College for ME program. After just one month at CMCC, he is already a member of the Student Senate.

At their meeting earlier in the day, the MCCS trustees approved submission of a biennial funding request of $50.4 million in fiscal year 2008 and $53.4 million in 2009. The requests represent a 6 percent increase for each of the two years.

Other community colleges in Maine are at Presque Isle, Calais/Eastport, Bangor and Wells.