With the free college initiative, different Maine Universities are trying to provide their students with better mental health services while trying to make college affordable for everyone. 

The free college scholarship has allowed more Maine residents to pursue higher education. Although helpful, as there has been a rise in the number of people attending Community Colleges, it is important to ask if colleges are still able to provide some services that allow their students to thrive. Are they having to cut corners on services such as mental health.

One of the biggest Community Colleges in Maine, Southern Maine Community College, now has about 4000 students on their South Portland Campus. With the current mental health crisis in Maine, Southern Maine Community College only offers the thin coverage of 1 social worker on campus for 4000 students on campus. 

In comparison, Bates college, a private college in Lewiston that is not currently implementing the free college scholarship, has 6 full time social workers available on campus and one graduate intern currently covering around 1600 students. That is about 267 students per social worker, excluding the intern. 

Although there are no doubts that the free college scholarship is helpful to the Maine population as it has allowed most people to get an education, Maine Universities still need to provide important services such as mental health services to allow their students to thrive and staff to thrive. Colleges that are not implementing free college, such as Bates, are able to afford such services for their students. Does it mean that these two are mutually exclusive? Or are there other ways to provide free education for students without having to sacrifice other services that are important to their health and security.