Of those who do, more than a third take remedial math or English because they aren't prepared.

And tuition and fees at Ohio's public universities rank among the 10 highest in the country, despite a two-year freeze that continues through the next school year.

Those are some of the challenges the state faces, according to a report the Ohio Board of Regents will issue today. Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut has identified the same problems with the state's higher-education system. He says they must be addressed if Ohio is to generate better-trained graduates and higher-

paying jobs.

This month, Fingerhut is to release his master plan to make Ohio's public colleges more accessible, more affordable and more prepared to help turn around the state's economy.

The regents' report "will serve as a blueprint from which we will work to improve higher education in Ohio," he said. "I hope the next report will be able to show the hard work that will be made in the coming year."

Fingerhut's plan and the regents' report are due to Gov. Strickland and lawmakers by March 31.

"It's a fact of life today that a high-school education by itself is not enough for individuals to build a strong economic future for themselves and their families," said Donna M. Alvarado, the regents' chairwoman.

The regents' report says the state needs to:

• Increase the number of high-school students taking Advanced Placement classes -- which can be translated into college credits -- and the number taking college classes

while in high school. The report also recommends that the state better prepare high-school teachers in math and science.

• Make tuition more affordable. Public-college tuition in the state is nearly double the national average. Families with children in two-year schools devote 30 percent of their income after financial aid to college expenses. Families with students in four-year schools spend 42 percent of their income.

• Increase money available for teaching and research by raising government and private funds.

• Graduate more students -- both recent high-school graduates and working adults, especially from underserved rural counties -- from college. The state has more residents with bachelor's degrees than the national average, but fewer with associate, graduate or professional degrees.

• Increase online offerings to make it easier for students to take more classes.

• Encourage community-college students to transfer to a four-year university to earn a bachelor's degree. In 2005, only 7 percent of the Ohio students who graduated with a bachelor's degree had transferred at least 30 semester hours from a community college.

• Eliminate duplicative programs, raise the quality of those that stand out, and distinguish schools from one another.

The regents acknowledge that reaching these goals won't be easy, especially because high-school classes will be shrinking. The Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education said in a national report released yesterday that the Midwest will see a 7 percent decline.

"If the United States is to maintain its place of leadership in a global economy, our society must educate all of our citizens, especially those students who have been poorly served in the past," said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, which helped with the national report.

epyle@dispatch.com