Topeka ? State Sen. Tom Arpke, R-Salina, said Tuesday he wants to see graduation rates at regents universities increase and more streamlining of course offerings.

Arpke, who heads a Senate budget-writing subcommittee with oversight of higher education, will unveil proposals on Thursday to try to accomplish those goals.

The graduation rate at Kansas University is 64 percent within six years, which is the highest rate among regents universities.

KU officials have said increasing the graduation rate is one of their top goals. To that end, they have overhauled recruitment efforts and increased admission standards that will take effect in 2016.

Arpke also told higher education officials that they need to take to heart a 2009 state audit of university spending.

“It’s a pretty good guideline for those universities to follow,” he said.

That report released by the Legislative Division of Post Audit said that universities could reduce costs by decreasing faculty, eliminating low-enrollment classes and consolidating departments.

But the audit didn’t get into how students might be affected by such reductions. And the audit compared costs at regents universities with one another, which higher education officials said was meaningless because the schools have different missions.

The audit also didn’t take into account the budget crisis at the time that resulted in higher education being cut by $106 million, or 13 percent.