ICYMI: Bipartisan Former Governors Endorse Governor Mills' Plan for Permanent Free Community College

In an op-ed published today by the Bangor Daily News, bipartisan former Maine Governors John Baldacci and John R. "Jock" McKernan called Governor Janet Mills' plan to make her free community college permanent for recent high school graduates a "sound and profound decision."

"The two of us have worked tirelessly, and across party lines, over the past quarter century to evolve the community colleges," wrote former Governors Baldacci and McKernan. "We now applaud and welcome Gov. Mills into our mutual efforts to keep growing and strengthening Maine's community colleges and making sure they remain affordable and accessible to the largest number of Mainers possible."

"We urge today's lawmakers to support this economic engine for Maine, giving young people the opportunity to pursue a tuition-free degree, while knowing their state believes in them and their potential," they wrote.

Baldacci, a Democrat, served as Governor from 2003 to 2011. McKernan, a Republican, served as Governor from 1987 to 1995 and serves as chair of The Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges.

Since Governor Mills' Free College program began in fall 2022, more than 23,000 recent high school graduates have enrolled tuition-free at Maine community colleges. Governor Mills has proposed making the Free College program permanent as part of her Affordability Agenda (PDF), the cornerstone of her supplemental budget proposal under consideration by the Legislature.

In recent weeks, the Governor has met with students benefitting from the program at Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle and at York County Community College in Wells.