Action Strategies
5. Launch a comprehensive College for ME Campaign to change public perceptions of higher education and behaviors toward going to college.
The Goal: Change the values, expectations and behaviors of Maine citizens regarding higher education and inspire more of them to pursue and complete postsecondary degrees, leading to a stronger economic future for Maine.
The Challenge: In many ways, Maine's lagging educational attainment is a product of cultural attitudes. To nurture college aspirations, parents and other caring adults must play a central role in helping students make connections between academics and their application in the workplace and the community. Yet in some rural parts of Maine, parents steer children away from college, fearing that young people may never return once they've seen the bright lights of Orono, never mind Paris.
Moreover, low college attainment tends to beget low college aspirations. As the demographer Harold L. Hodgkinson has written: "Many low-income, ethnic minority and immigrant children do not get exposed to the folklore of 'how you get into college' in junior high years, while the 'favored' have brothers and sisters in college, parents who are college graduates and lots of advice."
The Strategy: To achieve the ambitious goal of preparing 39,500 new college degree holders in Maine within 15 years, the Compact and partners will conduct a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness of College for ME opportunities and ultimately to change prevailing attitudes about the value of college education in Maine.
Building on existing initiatives, the multiyear campaign will seek to change the values, expectations and behaviors of Maine citizens regarding higher education. Targeted messages will be developed to influence so-called end-users, including families, educators and potential students of all ages, and to engender support among opinion leaders, including lawmakers, business and community leaders. The goal is to inspire Maine citizens to take action to pursue and complete college degrees or to encourage others to do so.
College for ME messages will reach across Maine through television, radio, newspaper and the Internet. College for ME will be visible in schools, communities and businesses throughout the state. In time, College for ME will result in a change in the prevailing attitudes about higher education, creating a shared vision of college as the Right and Responsibility of all Maine residents.
The Partners: The Compact will take the lead in organizing the College for ME Campaign. The Campaign will be a partnership of educators, media organizations and opinion leaders in Maine.
Related Strategies: To further encourage innovation in improving educational attainment, the Compact will convene educators, business leaders and others for an annual summit focusing on best practices in improving higher education attainment
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