Why not a four-day school and work week at North Country Community College -- or any other community college, for that matter?

The idea of a four-day week has been broached and appears to be looked upon favorably by the college trustees.

Being open only four days instead of five would save the college money, of course, by giving it three days off, instead of two, with fewer lights and less heat and strain on the infrastructure.

Just as important is the money it would save students and faculty, who would have less driving to school and back.

Other colleges have already done this, but few, we would imagine, would have the incentive to undertake the new schedule that North Country has.

It is a community college sponsored by two of the most widespread and sparsely populated of the 63 New York counties. Essex and Franklin counties are vast spaces occupied largely by forests and farm land, with few population centers.

North Country has a main campus in Saranac Lake and a satellite each in Malone and Ticonderoga. Like most community colleges, it is predominantly a commuter school, meaning many students have to drive to get there. Imagine the savings for students if they had classes only four days a week instead of five. Teachers and staff would also save. If gasoline hadn't surged past $4 a gallon, the idea may never have emerged, but everyone needs to find ways to cut expenses, and this sounds like a good one.

The obvious question is whether five days of classes can be fit into the four-day week, but that doesn't appear to be a problem. Each day might be longer to offset the idle Friday.

The administration already works four-day weeks during the summer.

The truth is that if North Country doesn't do something to make attending easier, it may be in jeopardy of losing some students. Some may not be able to afford the travel costs, on top of tuition and fees, even though those latter charges are among the most reasonable anywhere.

We wonder whether Clinton Community College will soon entertain the same notion. While its student body isn't as far-flung as North Country's, commuting is bound to be a factor in all non-residence or partial-residence colleges.

Downstate, the issue may not have the same urgency it has in our community colleges. The population in most areas of the state is not as dilute, and larger-population areas have access to some forms of mass transit.

North Country should be saluted for looking for creative ways to make attending college less burdensome for its students. This area needs college graduates as it looks toward prospects for future prosperity, and here's a school that is finding ways around the mounting obstacles.