AUGUSTA – What’s in a name? The key to an educated citizenry, a skilled work force and a strong economy, according to supporters of Gov. John Baldacci’s bill to transform the Maine Technical College System into the Maine Community College System.

Co-sponsored by 117 Republican and Democratic legislators, LD 1369 received unequivocal endorsement from educators, business representatives and policy-makers during 21/2 hours of testimony before the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

The bill would provide $1 million to strengthen counseling and advising services, change statutory references from “technical” to “community,” and broaden a scholarship program for high school juniors and seniors who aren’t planning on continuing on to higher education.

The idea is to change the former vocational schools into “a full-fledged community college system.”

A comprehensive community college system that’s accessible and affordable will ensure that more high school graduates go on to post-secondary education and “attract businesses that look for higher learners,” Baldacci said during a press conference prior to the hearing.

Calling it “landmark legislation,” Senate President Beverly Daggett said the bill represented a “defining change in our education system – one that opened far wider the door of college to Maine citizens.”

Providing $1 million is “just a start,” she said. “It will position the system for future growth when the budget environment improves.”

Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, sponsored his own bill to establish a community college system, but offered to withdraw the legislation in deference to the governor. Brennan’s bill came with a $10 million price tag that would pay for additional faculty and equipment.

Noting that this day had been a long time coming, MTCS President John Fitzsimmons smiled broadly throughout the hearing, clearly basking in the moment. Creating a true community college system for both traditional and non-traditional students would “address the chronic problems of Maine’s low college attainment rate, low incomes, and shortage of highly skilled workers,” he said.

Over the years, the technical colleges have become de facto community colleges, offering two-year associate degrees, certificates and diplomas, more than 240 career programs, open admissions and support services, and work-force training for business and industry.

In 1999 the technical colleges added an associate’s degree program in liberal arts, which allows students who are undecided on a career to begin taking core academic classes. The program has grown to nearly 1,400 students.

At least 45 other states, including those in New England, have a comprehensive community college system. Nationally, 42 percent of undergraduates are enrolled in community colleges, compared to only 15 percent at Maine’s technical colleges. Seventeen percent of high school seniors enter community colleges nationally, compared to only 7 percent in Maine.

University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal also supported the idea of a community college system. He said in a prepared statement read by University of Maine at Augusta President Charles Lyons that UMS would “work closely with policy-makers and other education leaders to ensure that the transition is seamless – and that it does not create any unforeseen and undesired financial or programmatic consequences for any student, program or institution.”

Brennan added a provocative note, suggesting now that the state will have a “clear, well defined” community college system, it might be a good time to consider whether the University College of Bangor and the state’s 10 distance learning centers “may be better served” under that umbrella than by the University of Maine System. The Bangor campus and the learning centers, located in small communities like Belfast and Dover-Foxcroft, now are administered by UMA.

The state could then focus on ensuring that the university system has high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs, said the Portland legislator.

That’s the type of issue that could be addressed by the new advisory committee created by the university and the technical college systems to promote collaboration, said Fitzsimmons.

UMA President Lyons said he’s interested in “having a series of talks about the best way to offer higher education in Maine.”

The new community college system is a separate entity from UMA, which offers most of the associate degrees in the seven-campus University of Maine System.

Now that the name change is imminent, Fitzsimmons said he’s looking to increase the annual enrollment of the seven technical colleges from 4,000 to 11,000, add courses and expand libraries.