PHOENIX ÷ President Pete Likins told the Senate Committee on Education yesterday that he was considering shutting down the Extended University and merging the department's offerings with each individual college on campus.

The Extended University offers computer-based classes, summer, winter, evening and weekend classes, certification programs and correspondence courses.

At Arizona State University, President Michael Crow is proposing similar measures, giving the colleges of engineering and business the option of running their own night, weekend and accelerated courses to generate extra revenue.

Crow figures that some courses beyond undergraduate education, such as professional degree programs like law, should be self-supporting and should not rely on state funds, he told the education committee yesterday.

The merger of Extended University could be a model for how the UA runs from here on out, more like what Likins and Crow described as an "entrepreneurial" organization than run in the image of an academic institution where, in Likins' words, it's against the culture to cut programs.

Likins presented the plans to radically revamp the universities. Changing Directions and UA's Focused Excellence would make UA more responsive to government, producing more workers to stimulate Arizona's economy.

UA currently offers programs like an accelerated nursing degree and a teaching certification program aimed at boosting the number of teachers in the Tucson area.

"We have to persuade the legislature, over time, that what we do is critical to (legislators') success · it's a good time to invest in what we do."

Those who have a college diploma earn more, on average, than those without, said Northern Arizona University President John Haeger.

"Those who have the knowledge will often do best but will also contribute the most to Arizona's economy," he said.