BOULDER, Colo.

The man nominated to lead the state’s flagship university is an oilman, not an academic. In a sea of Ph.D.s, he has only a bachelor’s degree. But he does offer this: A reputation as a formidable fundraiser.

Bruce Benson’s nomination may be bitterly dividing this 52,000-student, three-campus institution, but it is a sign that dollars, not degrees, are playing a bigger role in choosing college presidents. Though Benson would be one of only a fraction of college presidents without an advanced degree, he says he’s not worried about doing the job.

“People say, ‘What are the most important issues?’ I say, funding, funding, funding,” Benson said. “I don’t think you need to have a Ph.D. in anything to talk to legislators and raise money. We have highly educated chancellors. I will work closely with them.”

Campus observers have fiercely protested the selection, which has yet to be approved by regents. A “Boycott Benson” Web site questions the selection process and criticizes his background as a conservative Republican activist. The student government has voiced complaints, and a campus portrait of Benson was defaced with graffiti that said, “I’ve given CU enough $ for an individual right-wing nut like me to be CU’s president.”

State House Majority Leader Alice Madden, a Democrat and CU law school graduate, declared that Benson would be “the least educated president ever considered in modern history.”

Benson is the sole finalist for the job overseeing three campuses in Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs. In recent years, CU’s president has been more of a chief executive officer, with chancellors leading individual campuses.

He would join a small club of college leaders without advanced credentials. A 2005 Chronicle of Higher Education survey of 764 presidents and chancellors found fewer than 1 percent held only a bachelor’s degree. More than 83 percent held a doctorate, while most others held master’s or professional degrees.