Tuition rises every year at most colleges and universities around the country and Utah is no exception. Statewide tuition increases have hovered around 10 percent per year in recent years, with individual colleges bumping it up to as high as 25 percent. The trend is pricing many low-income families out of the higher-education market. Their children often work full time to pay tuition, making it difficult to earn degrees in a timely manner, if at all.

The report, by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, recommends expanded tax credits and more money for federal financial aid, as well as increasing the income levels to qualify for grants. That all sounds good. But, as the director of Utah's Higher Education Assistance Authority says, unless Congress appropriates more money, boosting grants for low-income students might increase the cost of loans for other students whose income is too high to qualify for aid, but not high enough to pay tuition without borrowing.

The Utah Legislature this year earmarked more money than ever for need-based financial aid. There are programs available to help needy students prepare for college entrance exams, to help them find scholarships and to navigate the higher-ed bureaucracy.

But often the problem is that school counselors and parents, some of whom are recent immigrants, do not know what's available and so cannot help students locate the assistance they need. All too often, these students don't take the high school classes necessary to qualify for college because no one explains the requirements. Indeed, some scholarships for needy students attract no applicants.

Secondary schools and colleges need to better coordinate and expand outreach programs to all students and their families. It does no good to provide aid if students don't know how to get it.