"Financial aid can go a long way toward meeting the cost of attending community colleges, but it is notoriously difficult to get students to apply," Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "The Connecticut Community Colleges system has hit on a process that helps. About a decade ago, the system created a centralized student-aid office to cut down on bureaucratic tasks at its 12 campuses and free up their staffs to work more with students. Since that change in the 2000-1 academic year, the system has seen the number of students applying for aid more than double, at a time when enrollment has grown about 25 percent."