A middle school campus near Lake Havasu could become a temporary ASU campus in western Arizona, officials said.The Havasu Foundation for Higher Education has been working to bring one of the state’s three universities to the area, and with discussion of closing Daytona Middle School in Lake Havasu, ASU has started looking at a the venture from a new angle.

David Young, ASU’s senior vice president of academic affairs, said having an existing location like the middle school to use as an interim campus will likely play into the decision to build in Lake Havasu.

“We’ve been in conversation with a number of municipalities about building Colleges@ASU,” he said. “An interim campus could be used until a real campus can be built, and the long-term plan is to do that somewhere at some point.”

The Colleges@ASU program is part of the Arizona Board of Regents’ initiative to increase the number of bachelor’s degrees produced in the state while decreasing the cost of providing them.

Most are planned to be smaller campuses, offering 3-year degrees with high numbers of online classes, but the Havasu Foundation wants to create a regular, 4-year campus in Lake Havasu — something the University is considering, Young said.

“Right now if you live in that part of the state your options for higher education are basically to leave,” Young said. “You have to either go to ASU, UA or NAU.”

Many of the details will remain up in the air because the Lake Havasu Unified School District’s governing board will not formally vote on closing Daytona Middle School until its next meeting on Feb. 16.

However, the foundation’s executive director Bill Ullery, who works closely with some of the board members, said he believes it will pass.

“That facility is going to be deactivated,” Ullery said. “Whether or not it’s acceptable for ASU is yet to be determined. They have a lot of work to do, analyzing market demand and our ability to provide the kind of campus they would need to make this attractive to both [Arizona] residents and nonresidents.”

In a series of studies released by the Havasu Foundation last year, more than 80 percent of high school students in the surrounding area said they would consider attending the University if it opened soon.

Jo Navaretta, school board president and foundation president, said in a letter posted on the Havasu Foundation’s Web site that community members are also in favor of bringing a campus to the area.

“Many area citizens have commented on how significant this project will be for the economy of our state and our region in particular,” she said. “We are evaluating each of the state’s three public universities as a potential partner, and we intend to finalize that process and selection within a few months.”

Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu