For years, Maine residents have been told to go to college so they can earn more money. New scholarship programs were started by the Legislature to overcome financial hurdles to higher education. Still, the percentages of Mainers with college degrees and high school graduated going on to college lags behind the regional average. A new effort comes at the problem from a new, and promising, angle.

The Maine Readiness Campaign will encourage high schools and communities to reform their approach to preparing students for college, work and citizenship. The effort is lead by Norman Higgins, the former superintendent of SAD 4 in Guilford. He knows first-hand the challenges and rewards of instilling high expectations in students, their families and communities.

As superintendent, he oversaw part of the transformation of Piscataquis Community High School from one of the worst in the state to one of the best. Part of the transformation was to sign all students up for rigorous courses. Soon they had no idea that such a curriculum was optional. Standardized test scores rose dramatically and the dropout rate fell.

Mr. Higgins now wants to help other districts adopt this approach of local-driven improvement based on successful in-state models. The fixes could be to raise academic standards and to help parents accept and support their children’s moving away to go to college. It could also be as simple as taking field trips to campuses. As Mr. Higgins puts it, it’s hard to aspire to go to the University of Maine when you’ve never set foot on that or any college campus.

The effort, which is funded by a $2 million grant from the National Governors Association, requires community support, which could entail businesses helping pay for the university field trips, for example.

A media campaign will be aimed at eighth-graders to encourage them to begin thinking about college by taking classes to put them on course for high school classes that will prepare them for college so they can minimize or avoid expensive and demoralizing remedial work there.

The Department of Education has sent applications to all the state’s superintendents, high school principals, school board members and municipal offices. So far, few have returned completed applications, which require school boards to pass a resolution in support of the effort. The deadline is June 9, so there is still time for districts to apply to be among the 50 selected for the campaign.

Rather than a solution prescribed by the education department or an initiative funded by the Legislature for a year or two, this campaign is based on changing local attitudes about the importance of graduating students who are prepared for college, work and civic participation. It is a message that should be well received.