LARAMIE - The University of Wyoming should seize on Wyoming's economic boom to increase the importance of education and expand educational opportunities for residents throughout the state, President Tom Buchanan said during Thursday's fall convocation.

Buchanan touted a list of recent funding milestones for the state's only university. Those include a record $43 million in private giving last year, an endowment of $300 million and generous support from the state Legislature.

Separately, UW announced Thursday that it brought in a record $78 million in external funding during the 2007-08 fiscal year, mostly from federal grants.

Wyoming invests more money per capita in education than any other state in the nation, Buchanan said. He said UW has a responsibility to work with other educators in the state "to share a passion for learning and discovery with every citizen we can reach."

"We have to change the prominence and perceived importance of education in our state, and we need to do it now," Buchanan said.

He said increased funding has helped fuel a boom in new positions, degree programs and research facilities on campus. The university has filled 10 of 12 new senior positions for energy-related teaching and research allocated by the Legislature in 2006. The university has also added degree programs in nursing, environmental and natural resources and the fine arts.

But UW should do more to reach out across the state, including providing opportunities for older students who can't move to Laramie. Buchanan said he will recommend the creation of new scholarship opportunities for older students to the Legislature and Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

"We need them all. It shouldn't matter how old you are," he said.

Buchanan said he is concerned that only about half of the state's 5,700 graduating high school seniors choose to continue with some sort of post-secondary education, and only half of those 2,800 students choose to attend the University of Wyoming.

Those who do attend often have trouble finishing, he said, as about half never graduate. Overall, the university's six-year graduation rate is 60 percent.

Buchanan said UW and the state's educational community should do more to create seamless transitions between education levels. Also, he said UW needs to do more for first generation college students and students whose communities haven't traditionally emphasized education.