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Arizona's public universities will increasingly rely on off-campus programs to expand their capacity under a long-term plan aimed at ensuring all state residents have access to a college degree.

The universities are concentrating on stronger partnerships with community colleges and "anywhere, anytime" access through the Web and other distance learning, as outlined in a joint report presented to the Arizona Board of Regents today.

In Tucson, Northern Arizona University anticipates expanding its branch campus and partnership with Pima Community College. The University of Arizona, already offering degrees in conjunction with Pima and Cochise community colleges, could expand its outreach to include four more colleges, in Mesa, Coolidge, Thatcher and Yuma.

"The Arizona university system must take very deliberate steps to accommodate the high number of additional students who are likely to qualify for admission by current standards over the next decade and a half," according to the report, written by Jerry Hogle, the UA's vice provost for instruction; Gail Hackett, Arizona State University's vice provost and University College dean; and Fred Hurst, NAU vice president of distance learning.

The report placed heavy emphasis on community-college partnerships like "2+2" programs, which allow students receive a bachelor's degree without having to move to a university campus.

Arizona Universities Network, a Web site that serves as a one-stop shop for all online classes at the state universities, is also expected to take on increased enrollment.

"We consider ourselves totally partners in this," Hogle said. "Our claim is, as a university system, we can over time, given the resources, meet the need for bachelor's degrees in the state of Arizona. That's our responsibility."

Higher education in Arizona will be flooded with students in the next 15 to 20 years, and the university campuses alone can't handle the expected wave.

The three universities have nearly 120,000 students now, and a study two years ago that predicted 180,000 students by 2025 is already considered an underestimate.

Regent Ernest Calderón said the report is taking on some of the appropriate issues but is light on plans to bring in-person degree access to large parts of the state.

"It shows the universities are making an effort, but we've got to do a lot more," he said. "I'm still in a quandary as to why the universities are not providing more access to bachelor's degrees in the rural areas."

Calderón, born in Morenci, said measures that have demonstrated some success should continue, but the universities still need to seek more ways of educating students closer to home.

"The 2+2 program is a very strong formula that has been proven, and Web-based is another strong formula, but we should be offering in-person access to four-year degrees in the rural areas, too," Calderón said.

"I think the report goes partway, but not as far as I'd like it to go."

Calderón said he favors changing regents policy to "untie the hands of the universities" to increase educational options in rural areas.

"Poor kids in rural areas have as much right to a bachelor's degree as kids in urban areas, and we haven't made our best effort," Calderón said.

"It's a question of whether philosophically the board wants to say we have a duty to rural students to give them the option of getting lower-division courses from a university."

April Osborn, executive director of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, said the report is on the right path because students benefit when the community colleges and the universities work closely together.

"That access needs to follow through to success in graduation," she said. "We know that target populations are not receiving degrees. It's the success part that is so often the challenge."

Osborn lauded the efforts to bring distance learning to rural areas but noted that online education doesn't serve everybody.

Classroom-based degree programs still need to be able to reach rural areas, she said.

NAU has about 1,200 students enrolled in its Tucson programs and is expanding with new dual degree in elementary education and special education in the fall, said Patty Diaz, area coordinator for NAU Tucson.

NAU has 2+2 programs with Pima and sees high demand for degree programs not offered by the UA, like interior design and hotel and restaurant management, Diaz said. In May, NAU opened its first stand-alone Tucson facility near West Prince Road and Interstate 10.

Pima Community College Chancellor Roy Flores said he's encouraged that community colleges are such a large part of the universities' plans because the collaborations already in place have proved successful.

"These collaborations are of paramount importance to increase access because the gap is formidable," said Flores, noting Arizona is the fastest-growing state. "We're going to have to expand access by a magnitude we've not contemplated before."