CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Mark Sanford said Friday he will push for a better coordinated system of higher education in South Carolina and proposed state institutions uncomfortable with that can, if they choose, go private.

Sanford, speaking with reporters about his executive budget in the administration building at The Citadel, said South Carolina has an unusually high number of colleges and universities for its population.

He said the state averages 105 percent of the national average for tuition costs while North Carolina is at 82 percent and Georgia at 86 percent.

Sanford said he will push for better coordination of higher education, whether it is strengthening the existing Commission on Higher Education, creation of a board of regents or some similar body.

"If any institution ultimately feels uncomfortable with our push toward coordination, they can exit the system," said Sanford. Schools that go private would keep their buildings and land but would have to offer preferred tuition for South Carolina students under the proposal.