The unexpected popularity of Maine's new Community College Partnership between the technical colleges and University of Maine systems is evidence that what appeared to be a state quirk was really a lack of opportunity. They continue to be leaders through high school, with some of the better national scores in 11th grade and excellent graduation rates. Then, they disappear. Not actually, of course, but practically.
Maine has among the lowest rates for high school students going on to college.
A fistful of studies and a lot of government pondering produced recommendations that pointed to cost as a factor and also carefully mentioned culture - the atmosphere that surrounds students as they grow. In some places in Maine, there is a broad expectation that students have at least four more years of schooling after high school graduation. In others, that expectation is nothing more than a nebulous option, one choice that might be OK but involves the uncomfortable demand of leaving home - and perhaps never living there again. The partnership became a series of agreements between the two systems to allow students to move from one to the other without hassle, serving as encouragement to start college and then continue it beyond the associate-degree level. At the University College at Bangor, a great place to start a college career, enrollment is up 20 percent.