PORTLAND — A scholarship program aimed giving every Maine newborn a $500 college savings down payment will begin automatically enrolling babies, ensuring the money is available to all of the 12,000 or so children born each year in the state, officials said Thursday.

Automatic enrollment means parents no longer will be required to set up a NextGen College Investing Fund by a baby’s first birthday to receive the money, according to the foundation, which was started by the late Dexter Shoe Co. founder Harold Alfond.

Parents will receive quarterly updates on the growth of the investment, which will become available when a child turns 18. The money can be used for any accredited program, whether it’s a four-year college or university or other educational program like a beauty school, culinary program or welding program.

Colleen Quint, president and CEO of the Alfond Scholarship Foundation, said 10 major employers including Bath Iron Works and Cianbro have agreed to offer payroll withholdings, or matching contributions, or both, to help bolster the funds. Left alone, the $500 grant would grow to several thousand dollars.

“We don’t have any illusion that it will fund someone’s entire education, but it’s an important first step,” she said.

Since 2009, the scholarship foundation has provided nearly $11.5 million to fund nearly 23,000 grants. Going forward, the foundation hopes to spend $6 million every year on the expanded program.

The announcement was made Thursday in Portland on what would’ve been the 100th birthday of Alfond. The Harold Alfond Foundation has $727 million in assets.

The college education fund started as a pilot program and expanded statewide in 2009 to become the first of its type in the nation. But it had shortcomings that prevented more babies from being signed up: Parents were required to enroll their babies within the first year in a NextGen fund administered by the Finance Authority of Maine.

Signing up for the college fund was a complicated process despite efforts by Merrill Lynch to streamline the process, and many parents missed the deadline, Quint said.

“Some of us were a few years removed from having a baby in the house, so we forgot how crazy it is to have a baby during that first year,” she joked.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who has battled with Democratic Senate President Justin Alfond in Augusta, had kind words for the scholarship program that bears the name of Alfond’s grandfather. The governor spoke about the importance of removing financial barriers to higher education in Maine.

LePage was homeless as a young person but was taken in by others who helped him attend what’s now Husson University, allowing him to embark on a successful career in business before becoming governor. “Education is what saved my life, and I want every Maine child to have the opportunity to succeed,” LePage said.