A bill before the Maine Legislature puts University of Maine System alumni on the benefactor’s hot seat: If this worthy bill passes and they still don’t give, they’ll have a lot to answer for at Homecoming.

The legislation would match with state dollars every dollar contributed to a system endowment fund. Having state money and alumni contributions depend on each other to build an endowment in the public system is a great way to raise money for this underfunded system. For the system to profit from this $10 million fund, alumni and other contributors must believe that the education received there is worth something — they vote with their money. Their incentive is the match from the state.

Maine would not be the first state to offer matching money as a way to raise more private dollars for its public institution of higher education. The matching funds have been popular in the South since the mid 1980s and came to New England a few years ago. Connecticut was the first to try, and raises more than $10 million annually through this method. Massachusetts received more than $23 million when it began a similar program last year.

Though the details of the funds vary from state to state, all of them focus on the core of the university: academics. The Maine fund would too, with system trustees establishing specifics to generate the highest level of private giving. The fund, by the way, is in addition to other state money sent to the university system; it could not be used as an excuse to reduce other appropriations.

The legislation is targetted to alumni, but improving the financial health of the University of Maine System should be of concern to all Maine residents. A strong university system not only educates; through its research and development functions, it generates new industries and the jobs that go with them. If Maine intends to be a place for its well-educated children to make lives for themselves, it must invest in its university.

This endowment program will help do that while asking the UMaine family to help itself. A commitment of both public and private money strengthens each university in the system and will provide opportunities for everyone in Maine for the future.