For years, the University of Maine System and, first, the Maine Technical College – now Community College – System have tried to clear a path for Maine college students that is low barrier and low cost but leads to a four-year degree. Last week, they got much closer to achieving it.

The two systems agreed on what they call AdvantageU, through which students who complete an associate’s degree in liberal studies at any of the community colleges in the state’s system are guaranteed admission to any University of Maine System school. These students will begin there as

juniors, will have an easier time registering for courses, get early advising toward their fields of study and have no application fee.

As important as these are for individual students, the real power of the idea of AdvantageU is the tone it establishes. By connecting the two systems so strongly, Maine’s higher-education officials are exchanging the question of whether community-college students will continue to a four-year degree into an expectation that they will. But by starting at the community-college level, nontraditional students or those needing remedial work to catch up with their peers can become accustomed to college, save money (over two years, tuition is $4,080 at the community colleges vs. $10,200 at UMaine) and find success to get them started in the right direction.

AdvantageU also answers a question for the state. As Gov. Baldacci noted early in his tenure, having two separate higher-education systems didn’t make sense in a state as small as Maine. But community-college officials, understandably, worried that merging the two systems would cause them to lose the distinct missions offered by their schools. By drawing the systems closer together without merging them, the arrangement now seems more sensible and it protects the community colleges.

Maine’s college-going rate is low compared with the number of students it graduates from high school, but the future of work here demands that more residents have bachelor degrees or better, so making that achievement a more natural part of post-secondary schooling is essential. AdvantageU helps do that, and should be welcomed by Maine residents.