UNITY – Unity College has announced it will begin offering $2,000 scholarships to all Maine students who apply for enrollment in 2008.

College administrators, inspired by a program from the Harold Alfond Foundation to award $500 scholarships to each child born in Maine, decided to launch the program in an effort to increase the number of Mainers who go to college.

They are hoping that other colleges will also begin offering more funding in a bid to reverse a trend of students finishing high school but not continuing on to college due to a lack of funding, said Unity College Vice President for College Advancement Rob Constantine.

“We’re very excited at Unity to be able to offer this, and to do our piece, but really we are just following the lead of the Alfond Foundation,” he said, adding that college plans to issue the grants indefinitely. “The more students from Maine who apply, which is what we are hoping, we are happy to welcome them.”

Other Maine colleges do offer scholarships with a preference for Maine students, although specifics vary. Bates College has at least 30 such endowed scholarships. Colby College has more than 125 established funds or scholarships designated specifically for Maine students. Bowdoin and Thomas colleges also provide funding with a preference for Maine students.

Known as “America’s Environmental College,” Unity in its last admissions class enrolled just over 200 students, according to Constantine. Forty-five of them were from Maine, despite the fact that Unity had accepted 115. Unity’s aim is to decrease the number of potential students who decide against enrolling because of a lack of funding, Constantine said.