Washington — Democrat or Republican, state legislators have at least one common goal: how to make higher education cost less to both the state and students, while also improving its quality.

Policy experts and lawmakers offered potential solutions here this afternoon at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s policy summit, where they focused on finding the most efficient and effective ways to graduate students and to reward colleges for doing so.

Every panelist bemoaned the entry of underprepared students into four-year public colleges, a pattern they said was a disservice to the students and a high cost to the state. The speakers suggested offering a range of incentives for all students to graduate promptly and for underprepared students to consider starting at a community colleges. Among other things, they proposed: Providing merit scholarships based on the completion of high-school college-preparatory courses. Offering cash incentives for students who have Advanced Placement or other existing credits. Adding a surcharge for students who take more than 140 credit hours. Setting minimum academic requirements for entry into four-year colleges. Establishing a minimum sophomore retention rate that would require colleges to cut enrollment in subsequent years if they did not meet the standard.

The issue of allocating state money based on performance also drew debate. Without such systems, which determine some state appropriations based on measures like graduation rate or student satisfaction, college administrators dependent on tuition dollars would have “every incentive to enroll everybody and never graduate a soul,” said Dennis P. Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Only 15 states currently have such a system.

But several panelists noted the deficiencies of basing funds on performance, such as the possibility that colleges would lower academic standards to graduate more students, or would be discouraged from admitting some students. The speakers said such programs must provide incentives for both admitting and graduating students. —Reeves Wiedeman