“Maine’s Promise” scholarships would allow low-income students to get through school without loans.

If the class of 2006 is like its predecessors, less than 55 percent of students will go to college.

Of those who do, a third will drop out.

Gathered by the Maine Department of Education and the U.S. Census, the statistics have alarmed state officials over the past few years. In today’s increasingly technological society, workers need higher education to get jobs, officials say, but too few Mainers are going on to college. When they do go, too few are earning degrees.

The Maine Compact for Higher Education believes it can help.

In a report presented to the governor Thursday, the compact recommended five ways to boost college attendance over the next 15 years.

Among them: Provide scholarships that meet students’ financial needs without the need for loans, give high school students early access to college courses and help adults make the transition to college.

The compact also recommended that the state reimburse employers who help their workers earn college degrees and that the state start a public-relations campaign to promote higher education.

“Our conclusion is if we don’t do something, Maine will lack 39,500 degrees in 15 years, well below the New England average,” said Henry Bourgeois, president of the Maine Development Foundation. “That’s just not acceptable.”

The Compact for Higher Education was created by the Maine Development Foundation, a private, nonprofit corporation with a broad mandate to promote Maine’s economy; and the Maine Community Foundation, a charitable endowment that supports nonprofit organizations, public agencies and scholarships.

Many without degrees

Members of the compact have spent the past year trying to find out why so many Maine students don’t earn college degrees. They found that students were often unprepared, frightened by the the high cost of college or forced to leave school because of family pressures and responsibilities.

To help with the financial issues, the compact has proposed Maine’s Promise Scholarship Program. If established, the program would give all low-income, full-time students enough money to pay for any private or public college in the state. Students would be expected to take advantage of federal work-study programs, but would not have to take out any loans.

To be eligible, students must have a family income less than twice the federal poverty level. For 2003-04, for example, that would mean an income less than $18,000 for one person or less than $36,800 for a family of four.

“These are the kids we want to target,” Bourgeois said. “For them, college is pie in the sky.”

To better prepare students for the college world, the compact recommended that every high school give students access to college courses before they receive diplomas. For some schools that might mean a broader range of advanced placement courses; for others, it would mean an agreement for students to attend local community colleges.

Monitoring, services

The compact also recommended that the state help 7,000 to 10,000 adults prepare for college over the next decade by providing mentoring and other support services. It said the state should also reimburse businesses that pay for employees to attend college.

To promote higher education for all Mainers, the compact suggested a comprehensive public-relations campaign.

“If we can change the attitudes and expectations, we will have changed a whole generation’s attitude about higher education, just like we did about smoking,” Bourgeois said.

But cost is an issue for all recommendations.

Phasing in a new scholarship program would cost the state $14.6 million the first year and $34.3 million by year four. It could cost the state $3.75 million to reimburse businesses for their employees’ college tuition.

Bourgeois said compact officials understood the state’s financial problems when they made their recommendations, but they believe Maine’s under-educated workforce will only cost the state jobs in the future.

“The compact thinks it’s an investment,” he said, “a long-term investment.” The compact will work with state officials on implementing the recommendations.

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