Students come and go from The Tower building Sept. 19 at Central Maine Community College in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Fall enrollment at Maine’s community colleges totaled more than 20,000 students for the first time, marking a roughly 10% increase since last year and a systemwide record.

The Maine Community College System enrolled 21,385 students across its seven schools this year, the system said Monday. Last year, the figure was 19,477 – also a record at the time – the system said in a statement.

System President David Daigler attributed the increase to a handful of new initiatives designed to expand college access for Mainers, including the state’s free community college program and a new initiative that offers guaranteed transfer to the University of Maine System for certain community college students.

“We’re grateful to see this surge of interest in pursuing an education at Maine’s community colleges,” Daigler said in a statement. “This is what happens when you intentionally and strategically make college affordable, relevant and accessible.”

Mainers who graduated high school between 2022 and 2025 are eligible for free tuition within the community college system.

So far, more than 17,000 students have taken advantage of the free college scholarship, the system said. But Daigler noted that this year’s high school seniors are the last to be covered by the current program.

“We’re hopeful that Gov. (Janet) Mills and the Legislature will support the continuation of Free College, but the clock is ticking,” Daigler said.

Southern Maine Community College saw the system’s largest enrollment, welcoming 7,900 students, according to the system. Central Maine Community College saw the second most enrollments, with 4,754.

Washington County Community College saw the highest year-over-year increase of the seven schools. Last year, the school saw 685 enrollments; this year, that figure was 805 – a roughly 18% increase, the system said.