About 190,000 students attend college from Bakersfield to Stockton, but the San Joaquin Valley's economic and intellectual health would improve with 20,000 to 25,000 more, educators say.

Valley college and university leaders in the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium say they want to change assumptions about college in the region. The consortium conducts its College Next campaign to create a college-going culture.

"We would like to see every high school graduate consider going to college," Allen Carden, the consortium's executive director, said Thursday.

Creating a college-going culture is more difficult because of the state's fiscal crisis. Universities and colleges are eliminating classes and limiting admissions.

"That is an obvious problem at the moment that we can solve over time," said President John Welty of California State University, Fresno.

Financial aid is available for low-income families. The consortium operates an Internet site to help families with financial and other facets of college preparation. Information is available at CollegeNext.org.

The consortium, a partnership of chief executives from the California State University, California Community College and University of California systems and private institutions in the Valley, is distributing a poster to every guidance counselor in every high school in 10 counties to make advisers aware of the effort to elevate college attendance rates.

Welty said the region should have 20% to 25% more students attending college.

Lower rates of higher education put the Valley's economy at a disadvantage. Esteban Soriano, vice chancellor for university advancement at UC Merced, cited comparative statistics: Last year, 28% of all California households had at least one person who had attended college. The rate in the San Joaquin Valley was half that.

Chancellors Tom Crow of State Center Community College District and Frank Gornick of West Hills College cited the Valley's agricultural base and economic constraints as factors the area must overcome in getting students to college.

Once students do attend college, they have to pay a larger share of the cost, Gornick said.