In the time Virginia Kelly spent raising her five children, the business world changed exponentially. 

With artificial intelligence and technology constantly changing, Kelly, 43, realized going back to work after years away would be difficult. She needed to catch up.

She enrolled at Central Maine Community College to earn an associate’s degree in business administration, balancing her time in the classroom with raising her three children still at home. 

Now, two years later, Kelly will be one of 725 graduates — 449 of those will march in Thursday’s graduation ceremony — in the college’s largest graduating class ever. 

The ceremony comes after several years of record high fall enrollment at Maine’s community colleges, which in turn has contributed to the system’s record-high number of graduates last year, with 2,905 students getting degrees, a spokesperson for the system said.

LARGEST CLASS EVER

Since the state started offering free tuition in 2022, the Maine Community College System’s seven colleges, from York to Presque Isle, have graduated 23,000 students.

In April, Gov. Janet Mills approved a budget that continues to make community college free for Maine students.

Central Maine has seen an 85% enrollment growth rate since 2021, said President Betsy Libby.

This fall, 5,656 students were enrolled at CMCC, according to numbers shared by Libby.

Libby, who recently took a new position as vice president of the community college system, thinks the free college program has helped enrollment. But, she says, the increases are likely from several factors, including a tuition rate that has stayed steady and the fact that more students are taking community college classes at their high schools.

Students at CMCC represent a broad range of the community.

“There are traditional students right from high school, some who maybe attempted college elsewhere and it was either too expensive, or far from home and they transfer in,” Libby said. “We have adult learners who maybe never went to school, or have a different degree or an employer is sending them here for classes.”

Many students take classes online or through their high school, while more commute to classes on campus or live on campus, where affordable housing is available. Because of the high enrollment, the college expanded its housing in 2023 by leasing part of a hotel in Auburn and calling it Mustang Hall after the college mascot.

Central Maine is known for having strong co-curricular and extra-curricular programs including internships, field experience, and athletics, with teams who have landed at national competitions. 

Programs like Ford ASSET, which allows students to work toward an associate’s degree while getting paid and gaining on-the-job experience at a Ford dealership, have attracted out-of-state students.

“(The growth) is completely owed to our faculty and staff, who are innovative and come up with great ideas and see them through by putting it into action,” Libby said.

KELLY MAKES A MARK

Kelly chose CMCC because of its closeness to her home in Norway. To get to college, though, she experienced a few bumps in her path.

Soon after she graduated from high school, her grandparents and father fell sick. Kelly took care of all three, stopping her from attending college.

The Massachusetts native and stay-at-home mother moved to Bethel, where her husband is from, in 2016, before later settling in Norway. She found it difficult to make friends.

Once at CMCC, however, she quickly made her mark.

She won the college’s “Yes I Can” award. She went to London through the program’s Global Classroom Program, which take students for a weeklong trip in another country to experience how global companies run businesses. She made lifelong friends. And she’s continuing her education.

“I didn’t have a traditional path to college or do the traditional things to get here, but it shows that you can still get here and be successful,” she said.

She’s happy to set an example for her children, especially as she goes on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Her 15-year-old son is her biggest cheerleader and will accompany her at graduation.

In fact, he won’t let her miss it.

“It’s hard being away from my kids daily, but they can see that no matter what happens you can make choices to make your life better,” she said. “It won’t always go the way you planned, but you can pivot and make it what you want.”