University and business leaders gathered Monday at the Taubman Museum of Art to announce a new effort they hope will result in a more focused, efficient and dedicated commitment to higher education in Virginia.

"Grow by Degrees," an initiative from the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, aims to help an additional 70,000 Virginians earn degrees by 2020. The nonprofit, nonpartisan, higher education advocacy group plans to do that through a combination of new partnerships, ideas and technologies -- and more state funding.

Referencing public opinion surveys that show a gap between how many Virginians graduate from college and how important they think it is to get a degree, council Chairman Heywood Fralin outlined the plan's goals and measures at stops across the state Monday, starting in Roanoke. The group also launched a Web site, growbydegrees.org.

Fralin -- the CEO of Roanoke-based Medical Facilities of America, rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors and father of Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke -- described the effort as a partnership among Virginia businesses, colleges and government. He said the organization will not try to dictate terms to the General Assembly or the governor, but comments made by Heywood Fralin and others about inconsistent and shrinking state support for higher education underscored a plan to make it a major issue this election season and in the General Assembly session to follow.

The percentage of state funds in public university budgets has been dropping steadily for several years. Part of the percentage decrease is the result of growing university budgets, but state support in real dollars at Virginia universities was just recovering from 2002 cuts when multiple rounds of budget reductions the past two years set it back again. Tuition rates have risen sharply as colleges have looked for ways to compensate, leaving people who want a college education in a difficult situation.

Fralin referenced two statewide surveys conducted by Democratic and Republican national polling organizations in December and March in which 75 percent of Virginians surveyed said a two- or four-year college degree "is needed to succeed in today's economy." The percentage of college-age Virginians who enroll in college is only 35 percent, according to the organization.

"The people of Virginia get it. They understand that ... if you want to make Virginia the economic growth capital of the world, you must first make Virginia the work force training and the educational growth capital of the world," he said.

Fralin, who is supporting Republican Bob McDonnell in the race for governor, said that the issue is not a partisan one and the group has been encouraged by the policy ideas on higher education and economic development from both McDonnell and his opponent, Democrat Creigh Deeds.

The Grow by Degrees plan aims to increase the percentage of working-age Virginians with college degrees from 42 percent to 50 percent over the next decade -- an increase of about 70,000 degrees. The initiative calls for legislation committing the state to long-term higher education funding plans and the creation of a rainy day fund to prevent skyrocketing tuition and higher education cuts during tough times. It also trumpets the benefits of more financial aid for low-income and middle class families.

The ideas espoused Monday are not new. Politicians and advocacy groups have tied higher education and economic prosperity together for years. Public university presidents in the state have bemoaned cuts in state support for much of the past decade. The Virginia Business Higher Education Council itself was founded by business leaders in 1994 on the principle that access to higher education is directly correlated to economic prosperity.

But Nancy Agee, chief operating officer of Carilion Clinic and a member of the Radford University Board of Visitors, said repeatedly Monday that the plan "is not the same old, same old."

She pointed out the important role business and university partnerships will play in spurring growth and maximizing the effectiveness of funding. Additional resources will focus on science, technology, engineering and math degrees as well as training for high-demand professions such as health care and teaching, she said.

New teaching technologies as well as innovative degree programs, such as the "two plus two" transfer program that eases the process for community college students to receive four-year degrees, will help improve efficiency, she said.

"We can't afford to pay for 70,000 additional degrees in traditional, residential, college programs," she said.

Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, said "Grow by Degrees" isn't advocating "higher education for higher education's sake" but is part of a broader effort to improve the state's future.

"Virginia first needs a plan, a vision, a 10- to 15-year vision," he said. "And then we need a commitment, a firm commitment, from state government to fund it."

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger admitted the idea of the importance of higher education isn't unique, but the state's future depends on acting on the philosophy, not just acknowledging it.

"Everybody says, 'This is what we need to do.' Now the difference is, who has the will to act?"