The state's community colleges have done us proud.

In the five years since the governor and Legislature changed the name and mission of Maine's former technical colleges, the new system has seen its enrollment grow an astounding 57 percent.

That's 57 percent more Maine students getting an education in nursing, trades, business, office administration, computers and even that not-very-employable degree, liberal studies. According to figures just released, there are now 11,801 degree-seeking students in the system, with colleges in Wells, South Portland, Auburn, Fairfield, Bangor, Calais and Presque Isle.

At Fairfield's Kennebec Valley Community College, the number of students attending classes has increased 30 percent during that period, and 1,469 students are working toward degrees there.

The name and mission change for the system that happened five years ago was really an after-the-fact acknowledgement that what had once been primarily a technical college system had broadened its goals to encompass education and training for a variety of occupations. That kind of evolution was in keeping with the century-long history of this nation's community colleges.

First designed to help under-prepared students get the foundation they needed to transfer into degree-granting four-year college programs, the growing number of community colleges across the nation are designed to be in constant flux.

Workforce retraining was the focus of one major expansion of the system after the Great Depression. Then, after World War II, the colleges undertook retraining for returning GIs entering the civilian workforce. As the concept of universal access to higher education gained widespread acceptance in the 1960s, that decade saw the biggest expansion of community colleges across the country.

Forty-six percent of the nation's undergraduates currently are enrolled in community colleges, making them an essential part of our educational system and economy.

With the enrollment expansion just experienced in Maine's community colleges, then comes the historic responsibility to prepare those students for productive roles in the state's economy. That's where the nimbleness of the system becomes a major asset. The workforce training provided by the various colleges in the 1990s may no longer be appropriate for today's economic landscape.

That's why community college officials have been conducting focus groups throughout the state since mid-September. The sessions, which continue through early November, are designed to help college leaders learn about the educational and workforce challenges facing the state's rural communities.

Are there enough skilled workers to meet the needs of area employers? If not, what kind of training do they need?

At the end of the process, the input from the 11 communities will help to refocus the offerings of the state's colleges.

Refocusing is important; 4,200 jobs in this state go begging each year because we don't have the skilled workers to fill them. Yet traditional trades -- whose workforce training needs were once answered by the state's technical colleges -- continue to demand attention, too. As the community college's curriculum wizards devise their new programs, we urge them to also respond to the needs of the more traditional occupations -- building trades, for example -- that still make up a significant proportion of the Maine economy.

Finally, the community college system can't sustain much more expansion without the resources to do so. Enrollments at many of the schools are at the maximum -- at Southern Maine Community College, more than 1,500 qualified applicants were turned away for entry into the college's health sciences and various technical programs this year. Why? Not enough labs, not enough classrooms, not enough instructors. A $15.5 million bond on the ballot this fall is designed to help the colleges meet the growing demand.

We support that bond: Maine needs educated citizens and workers. Maine's workers need training. Maine's high school students need an affordable education.

The state's community colleges are an answer to all those needs, but they need the tools -- teachers, laboratory equipment, adequate classroom space -- to provide those answers.