Nearly $11 Million for Maine Community Colleges Secured by Senator Collins in Funding Bills

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured $10,663,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for Maine Community Colleges in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. The bill, which passed the Senate last week and was approved by the House of Representatives this afternoon, has been signed into law.

"Maine's Community Colleges provide important educational opportunities in technical fields, career training, and transfer programs to students seeking to further their education," said Senator Collins. "This funding will support facility and equipment upgrades, helping to expand nursing, health education, forest industry, and trade programs across the state. As the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I worked hard to secure this important funding."

"This higher education funding secured by Senator Collins will be transformational for our students and Maine, providing critically needed health care equipment and facilities that will not only help increase the number of skilled health care workers in Maine, but support our goal of doubling the number of nursing graduates from Maine's community colleges," said David Daigler, President of the Maine Community College System.

Funding secured by Senator Collins is as follows:

CMCC Nursing Education Equipment Enhancement

Recipient: Central Maine Community College (CMCC)

Project Location: Auburn, ME

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Project Purpose: To purchase nursing education equipment.

EMCC Nursing and Allied Health Education Simulation Expansion

Recipient: Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC)

Project Location: Bangor, ME

Amount Requested: $6,510,000

Project Purpose: To construct and equip a nursing and allied health care simulation laboratory and learning center on campus.

KVCC Electrical Program Training Facility

Recipient: Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC)

Project Location: Fairfield, ME

Amount Requested: $180,000

Project Purpose: To purchase equipment for KVCC's electrician training program.

KVCC Mechanized Logging and Forest Trucking Program

Recipient: Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC)

Project Location: Fairfield, ME

Amount Requested: $1,019,000

Project Purpose: To purchase equipment for a logging workforce training program.

NMCC Nursing and Allied Health Education Simulation Expansion

Recipient: Northern Maine Community College (NMCC)

Project Location: Presque Isle, ME

Amount Requested: $650,000

Project Purpose: To purchase labor and delivery simulation equipment.

NMCC Industrial E&I Technician Training Program

Recipient: Northern Maine Community College (NMCC)

Project Location: Presque Isle, ME

Amount Requested: $1,304,000

Project Purpose: To purchase equipment and develop a program to train industrial electrical and instrumentation technicians.

In 2021, Congress reinstituted Congressionally Directed Spending. Following this decision, Senator Collins has secured nearly $1.5 billion for hundreds of Maine projects for FY 2022, FY 2023, FY 2024, and FY 2026. As the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins is committed to championing targeted investments that will benefit Maine communities.

###

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet