The signals had been there for years. Task force reports and researchers all predicted it. Then, in the late 1990s, the economic collapse in this blue-collar region of central Maine began. First, the Cascade Co. closed its textile mill. Then the C.F. Hathaway Co. shut down, and Dumont Industries followed suit soon after. Several stores and other businesses also shut their doors around the same time. All told, about 1,200 well-paying jobs disappeared between 1997 and 2002. To change that situation and help prepare the next generation of workers, state leaders began devising a plan three years ago to persuade more high school students to consider some form of higher education. The theory was that such preparation would bring in new employers and lead to jobs that pay well enough to keep young people in Maine and, officials hoped, reverse an overall economic decline across the state. A 2005 Maine Chamber of Commerce report showed that half the state's employers said they had a hard time finding skilled workers. This article focuses on Maine's declining college-attendance rate, changing job market, and strategies to resolve these issues.