Aiming to make Maine residents among the best educated in the country, a group committed to expanding higher education opportunities unveiled a $43.7 million plan Thursday that it hopes will increase the number of college degree holders by nearly 40,000 within 15 years.

Focusing on preparation, affordability, and retention, the College for ME Program seeks to increase the college-going rate for students right out of high school as well as for older, nontraditional students.

The plan calls for, among other things, establishing $34 million in state-funded scholarships for low-income students, and providing a 50 percent tax credit to employers who help workers pursue a college degree, a strategy estimated to cost $3.7 million.

Drafted by the Compact for Higher Education – a joint effort of the Maine Development Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation – the plan also recommends:

. Establishing programs for underachieving high school students to experience college life at an estimated cost of $3.4 million.

. Providing support for adult education participants to continue on to college, estimated to cost $300,000 per year over 10 years.

. Launching a five-year campaign to heighten awareness about the importance of a college degree as a key tool to economic development, estimated to cost $2 million, which would be raised privately.

State funding would be phased in, said Henry Bourgeois, former director of the Maine Development Foundation, who now heads the compact.

“I don’t believe for a second we’ll get it all the first or second year,” he said. “It will take time, but it’s about a long-term investment in the future of our state.”

Some parts of the plan require legislation that will be sponsored by Gov. John Baldacci, who asked the compact last year to find solutions to the obstacles that keep people from going to college.

Baldacci said during a telephone interview Thursday that he would work with the compact and the Legislature “to put forward in January a down payment on the program.”

Citing the need for private and nonprofit support as well as aid from the business community, he added, “We can’t do it all at once or by ourselves.”

In a news release issued Thursday, the governor pointed out the importance of education to the state’s well-being. “In Maine, we have built schools and colleges with bricks and mortar, and now we’ll construct the economy of tomorrow with diplomas and mortar boards,” he said.

According to the compact’s report, “Greater Expectations,” only about 37 percent of Maine’s working-age adults have college degrees.

In northern Maine, a little fewer than 17 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree and less than half of young adults believe their community encourages them to attend college.

The result has been fewer companies expanding in the state; a loss of skilled, high-paying jobs; an out-migration of young people; lower per-capita income; and decreased civic involvement, the report stated.

Bourgeois said the compact will begin developing details on the strategies next month. But he offered some additional information during an interview.

Over four years, more than 7,000 students would be helped through the scholarships, which are intended to pay costs not covered by federal, state and local grants, he said.

Through the “early college” program, underachieving high school juniors and seniors would gain confidence by taking classes at a nearby public or private two- or four-year college or university.

Thousands of people are already enrolled in adult education, but need support such as mentoring and counseling to help them transition into college, Bourgeois said.

When employers help workers go to college, they get a “better-educated worker who’s more productive and probably more loyal,” he said.

The marketing campaign would involve talking to parents, community groups and educators to “change the expectations and attitudes of Maine people about postsecondary education,” he said.