OREM — Education officials over the next year will study the possibility of transforming Utah Valley State College into a university.

"We have been involved in discussions about, you know, how they might go about doing that," Utah Higher Education Commissioner Richard Kendell told the Deseret Morning News.

A three-member team of education experts will start the study in November.

"These are senior administrators, people who have had major responsibilities in higher education," Kendell said.

UVSC chiefs have quietly and consistently pressed the university status idea with Kendell and Utah's Board of Regents, the governor-appointed panel that oversees the state colleges and universities.

Kendell said he and UVSC President William Sederburg "agreed it would be a good idea to bring in people (from) out of state, have them look at the college, its assets and resources, and things they need" to become a university, Kendell said.

"I'm not suggesting that's a forgone conclusion" that UVSC will become a university, he said.

What makes a school a university tends to be subjective and varies from state to state, officials say. In Utah, however, universities are higher-education institutions that offer graduate degrees in addition to extensive four-year degree programs.

UVSC does not have any graduate programs. And it would not be cheap for the school to become ready for university status.

"We don't know exactly what the price tag would be," Kendell said. "That's one of the things we'll be looking at and try to get some good information."

UVSC has a large number of adjunct faculty, and it needs to increase the number of full-time faculty to become a university.

"That would be an accreditation issue," Kendell said.

If UVSC launches graduate programs, it would need to upgrade its library for graduate program-level research.

The school has been lobbying for a Digital Learning Center — a state- of-the-art electronic library — and hopes the Legislature will fund it next year.

Education officials also would examine the impact on other schools.

Graduate degrees can be obtained at Utah State University, Weber State University, the University of Utah and Southern Utah University. Private schools Brigham Young University and Westminster College also offer graduate degrees.

"I don't know for sure what the impact would be," Kendell said. "But I think that would be one of the questions: How many universities should we have in this state? And, is there a need for another university?"

UVSC officials, if granted permission by the regents, could start work on graduate programs in education, business or nursing, according to a report by a consultant hired by Sederburg to examine the feasibility of UVSC becoming a university.