SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) More students are enrolling in Maine’s community colleges this year.

The state’s community college system said Thursday enrollment was up a little more than 4% from 2018 to 2019.

The system said the total count at Maine’s seven community colleges was more than 17,000 according to a count from mid-October.

The system said the growing number of students is the reverse of a national trend that has seen declining enrollments at public two-year colleges.

The Maine community college to gain the most students was Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. Enrollment there went up almost 9%.