July 12, 2010. Funding for financial aid across US down, “Students and parents have fewer resources to pay for college during recession, and at the same time, tuition is going up.”

USA Today

By Elizabeth Bewley, Gannett Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Most state governments depend on federal stimulus money to keep public colleges and universities afloat, a new report says. But these funds may be drying up as the new fiscal year begins.

Thirty-nine states used stimulus money to support higher education in the past year, compared to only 14 states the year before, according to the report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. To receive federal funds, states were required to keep higher education funding at or above 2006 levels.

As a result, public funding for higher education increased an average 2.3% last year. Without stimulus money, it would have fallen 2.5%, according to the report.

Read more at usatoday.com.