An advertisement now showing at Portland-area movie theaters features a smiling young woman who used her associate's degree from Southern Maine Community College in South Portland to transfer to Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts, one of the highly regarded private women's colleges known as the "Seven Sisters."

The woman in the ad is not an actress. She's Holly Wormell of Orono, and she is a poster child for just how far Maine's seven community colleges have come in the four years since they were transformed from vocational technical schools.

The switch was designed to broaden the schools' missions. They would continue to offer traditional technical and vocational training, but add programs that would make it possible for students to transfer seamlessly to a four-year college. The education would be delivered at half the price of Maine's public universities.

It was a stunning success, especially at the South Portland campus, which has seen enrollment leap from 2,019 students in 2002 to 4,689 this fall, a 132 percent increase. But it may have come at the expense of the University of Southern Maine, located across the Fore River in Portland.

Once the largest of the University of Maine System's seven campuses, the 128-year-old institution has slipped into second place behind the university system's flagship campus in Orono.

Since 2002, USM's enrollment has dropped nearly 8 percent. A hiring freeze was imposed this fall, and the university is working to plug a $2 million budget hole due to falling enrollment and increased energy costs. At the same time, enrollment has risen at other university campuses, except Augusta, which experienced a similar decline.

University officials say they are confident that they will reverse the trend. But they face a number of challenges, from rising costs to a shrinking school population and competition from across the Northeast.

"We are under tremendous pressure," said William Steele, head of USM's faculty union.

Enrollment at the community colleges has jumped 48 percent to 11,078 students systemwide in the first four years of the evolution from technical schools. Campuses are located in Auburn, Bangor, Calais, Fairfield, Presque Isle, South Portland and Wells.

There are waiting lists to get into some popular programs. A steady flow of recruiters from some of the Northeast's most competitive colleges and universities are showing up to woo students like Wormell.

This year, York County Community College in Wells sent a student to Harvard while SMCC sent students to Northeastern University, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges. A mother and daughter who attended Eastern Maine Community College both are enrolled this year at Simmons College in Boston. And the community colleges are still churning out thousands of graduates in vocational and technical programs, which boast 75 percent or better job placement.

USM officials attribute part of their enrollment slump to the success of the community colleges. USM has long served a diverse student population. Roughly half of its 10,478 students are part time, commuting adults making their way through college while working full time and raising families.

So when Southern Maine Technical College converted to a community college, there was an immediate impact on USM.

"We lost 1,000 students. Guess where they are? Southern Maine Community College," said USM President Richard Pattenaude.

Pattenaude said the drop was expected. When the idea of community colleges was first floated nearly 10 years ago, USM predicted it would lose students looking to acquire the same education for less.

A credit hour at USM costs $180 for Maine residents, $488 for out-of-state students. A credit hour at SMCC costs $78. Some students said it made no financial sense to attend USM, especially when the two schools share some teachers.

SMCC freshman Victoria Parent of Waterville said she wants to earn her bachelor's degree but is unsure just yet in what major. "It is a lot cheaper to figure that out here," Parent said.

Students at SMCC say they get more personal attention at the community college than they would at USM, where they have heard stories of survey courses with 200 or more students.

"Here they know your face. They know your name. If you don't show up in class two days in a row, you will get an e-mail from the professor," said Helen Foster of Standish, who is persuing an associate's degree in business with an eye toward opening a hair salon.

SMCC is not the only institution posing competition for USM.

The school-age population is dwindling both in Maine and in New England, which has the highest number of higher-education institutions per capita in the country. Maine's elementary and secondary school population dropped by 6 percent from 1995 to 2005 to 199,253 students and is projected to fall another 12 percent by 2014, while the rest of the country is expected to see an enrollment increase of 4 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The number of public high school graduates in New England is expected to fall about 13 percent to about 125,000 by 2014. That means more competition for fewer students.

The trend has fueled an enrollment expansion at a number of private Maine campuses that are positioning themselves to ride out the decline.

The University of New England's campuses in Biddeford and Portland saw enrollment hit an all-time high this fall at 3,534 students, a 49 percent increase in four years. The university attracted more students by expanding its College of Arts and Sciences, adding a marine program and offering programs in education and business. With a new pharmacy college set to open next year at its Portland campus, it is poised to grow even further.

Enrollment at Saint Joseph's College of Maine in Standish, where 55 percent of the students are Maine residents, also hit a new peak this fall, growing nearly 8 percent to 1,050 in four years. The college intends to continue that trend until it reaches about 1,400 students in the next decade, said Vincent Kloskowski, dean of admissions.

He said Saint Joseph's success comes from heavy recruiting, careful branding of its image and constant tweaking of programs to match changing student interests. He said it is much easier for private colleges to make adjustments than it is for public institutions, which are less nimble when it comes to budget or staff changes, "We are not funded by taxpayers," Kloskowski said. "We can do a holistic review of our practices."

Saint Joseph's has stepped up its recruitment, pushing into the Midwestern states where the cachet of attending college in New England holds sway.

"This is where families want to send their kids," he said.

USM officials say they are taking all the same steps as private colleges.

"It played out exactly as we knew it would," Pattenaude said. "You have caught us mid-leap in transforming our enrollment profile made necessary by the decision to expand the community colleges."

Dahlia Lynn, head of USM's faculty senate, said teachers are acutely aware of the drop in enrollment. She said the faculty recognizes the solution may come from fostering a sense of community among the university's complex mix of full- and part-time students who are spread out over campuses in Gorham, Lewiston and Portland.

"To what extent do we provide students with a sense of connectedness?" she said.

Two years ago the university shifted its strategy to increase full-time enrollment. Pattenaude said the move is already making progress.

This fall, full-time enrollment at USM hit a record high of 5,972 students. Although graduate enrollment fell, which Pattenaude said was due to a tuition hike for graduate courses, there are signs of a rebound next semester, he said. The number of students transferring from the community colleges jumped 150 percent in four years, to 277 students this fall.

Aimee Michaud, 25, of Brunswick is among them, transferring to USM this year from SMCC. She said she didn't seriously look anywhere else because she could not find a comparable program in social work elsewhere. The USM advisers stationed at SMCC helped her make the transfer.

"It was easy to go on to USM," she said.

The school has beefed up its sports offerings to include wrestling, men's and women's indoor track and women's ice hockey. It added new programs such as mechanical engineering and construction management. A three-year-old master of fine arts in writing now has 150 students.

The university is also building new residence halls at its Gorham campus and in recent years added a new fieldhouse, bioscience research institute and community center. USM recruiters are doubling their efforts from 340 college fair and high school visits last year to 600 this year. And after exploring theater advertising, the university opted for radio spots in three New England states instead, after deciding they were more effective.

Pattenaude said all the effort will pay off in time.

"This is a really good school, getting better and doing a good job," he said.

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:

bquimby@pressherald.com