Giving Compass' Take:

• The Hechinger Report raises concerns about the nearly one million low-income students around the country who are eligible for financial aid but don't receive it because of state budget shortages.

• It's not just a lack of funds that's a problem, but also the rising cost of tuitions. Nonprofits involved in higher education initiatives should look at ways to help disadvantaged students find more opportunities beyond applying for grants.

• To that end, here's a piece that explores how philanthropy can address college affordability.

Last year alone, more than 900,000 low-income students who applied for and were found eligible for state financial aid for college never received it, because states ran out of money, according to a new analysis of state data by The Hechinger Report.

The number is likely much higher — many states don’t keep track of the number of eligible students they turn away, even though they acknowledge that they have run out of money before all eligible students have been served.

And it’s not just a few states that have a severe shortage. In ten states, more than half of eligible students didn’t receive a grant, including Oregon, Kansas, Delaware and Illinois.

“In most states, the aid program comes from the general fund, and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” said Sarah Pingel, senior policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States. “[Legislators] are aware of the consequences, that thousands of students may not get the funding they need to afford college."

In Maryland more than 18,000 eligible low-income students were denied funds from the state’s need-based tuition aid program last year. In Kentucky it was more than 28,000 students, and in Florida more than 100,000, even though they applied on time and qualified for the aid.

The crisis has been stoked by years of budget cuts combined with an increased number of applicants, due to a growing awareness that good jobs require more than a high school diploma.

Read the full article about eligible students not getting financial aid by Meredith Kolodner at The Hechinger Report.