Students Shoulder More Costs of Higher Education AAUW has long supported making it more accessible for students to attend college and earn a degree. Unfortunately, due to the current economic recession and a troubling trend of higher tuition combined with lower public and private spending on instruction, students are shouldering more of the costs of higher education. This week, the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability released a new study highlighting the burdens students face. According to the study, students at public colleges and universities paid half the cost of their education in 2006, up 10 percentage points since 2002; students at community colleges covered 30 percent of the cost, up from 24 percent over the same time frame. At private institutions, the students' share was even higher, at 55.8 percent. Tuition has also risen sharply, up 29 percent at public and private universities from 1995-2006, while the percentage of university budgets dedicated to instructions declined by varying degrees across the board.   The study comes as debate on the economic stimulus package begins to heat up in Congress. AAUW is a strong supporter of making higher education affordable, which includes improving and expanding the Pell grant program. The maximum Pell grant for the 2008-2009 school year is $4,731, which covers only 33 percent of the total cost at a public 4-year institution. AAUW believes the grant amount must be higher, and that such an increase should be included in the economic stimulus. Reports indicate that Pell grant expansion is forthcoming in the package. Given the economic downturn, more students are seeking aid and additional people are returning to school to retrain, making additional funds critically important.[reported in Washington Update, Jan. 16, 2009]