In a prosperous year, the University of Maryland, College Park might receive 300 appeals from students who believe they're not receiving enough financial aid.
In the first eight months of 2009, the university has received 1,500 appeals for more money.
This staggering increase is only one example of the recession-fueled pleas that are deluging financial aid offices at colleges around the state.
As campuses open for the fall semester, thousands more Maryland students have applied for financial aid than in 2008. Those who already receive it are asking for more money. Colleges have added millions of dollars to their financial aid budgets to keep up with the increased demand, but some are still buried in appeals from students who say they're not getting enough.
Robert L. Parker, director of the Office of Student Financial Assistance for the Maryland Higher Education Commission, said the 18 percent increase in state aid applications - about 20,000 more - is the largest annual increase he's seen in his more than 30 years in college finance and administration.
"The economy is definitely having an effect on all of this. Every aspect of the economy has been affected. More and more people are looking for ways to improve themselves," so more people are going back to school and applying for financial aid, he said.
Colleges are trying to serve a growing number of students who have appealed for more financial aid because of sudden changes in family income. The recession, the flood of workers using unemployment benefits to return to school and the general increase in students applying to college have all contributed, said Haley Chitty, spokesman for the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators.
"We have heard almost across the board that our members are seeing increases in the amount of appeals," Chitty said.
Because of the appeals, Sarah Bauder, the financial aid director at College Park, took an unusual measure this summer. She closed her office to visitors on Wednesdays, just so her staff can give undivided attention to reviewing appeals from students who believe they're not getting enough tuition money.
Bauder said her office had 267 appeals pending, "a tremendous amount for us."
"It's an unusual dynamic in that we have so many people who had no need before who are now asking for loans," she said.
