AUGUSTA — The Maine Community College System on Wednesday announced that applications for the fall semester system-wide are up 16 percent from a year ago.

Community college officials said the increase continues a dramatic growth trend in student enrollment. Over the last four years, the number of students enrolled in degree programs in the system is up 47 percent.

In discussing the dramatic growth in applications, System President John Fitzsimmons noted, “This is classic good news bad news. The good news is that Maine people know how important higher education is to their economic well-being. The bad news is that the community colleges are at capacity.”

Citing these pressures, the 2006 Governor’s Community College Advisory Council has called for an increase in enrollment of 4,000 students over the next two years as part of a long-term plan to more than double over the next decade the current enrollment of 13,000.

Kennebec Valley Community College has seen fall semester applications increase 9 percent.