LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The head of Arkansas' flagship university said the state must do everything it can to encourage more students to seek bachelor's degrees - including possibly offering illegal immigrants the lower tuition rates given to residents.

University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart stopped just short of endorsing a possible measure by an incoming state senator that would give in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants. However, the new head of the Fayetteville university said most higher education officials want to be ``frankly forgiving if we can'' when it comes to students living illegally in the state.

``I don't think it would be appropriate for me to argue against any qualified student getting a four-year degree at our institution simply because of their parents,'' Gearhart told The Associated Press during an interview Wednesday. ``To me, it's not really the student's fault that they came here and their parents had an issue with immigration. To me, that's penalizing the student.''

In recent years, both the University of Arkansas and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway had offered students in-state tuition rates even if they didn't list a Social Security number in their applications. In May, the head of the state's Department of Higher Education issued an order requiring schools to ensure students receiving in-state tuition were legal residents.

In the time since, Gearhart said the university identified about 25 students who may be illegal immigrants now attending classes there. Officials at the school worked to find private donations to cover the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition  - about a $4,500 difference per semester per student, Gearhart said.

The chancellor, who took over as the university's top administrator July 1, described his decision also as one of necessity in a state that ranks 50th in the nation in the number of residents with bachelor's degrees.