Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2009 -- 10:10 p.m.

The economy is hurting right now.

But, according to the state's higher education institutions that makes funding for financial aid all that more important.

"There has never been this cross sector. Rallying around on behalf of student aid before."

Tuesday afternoon state lawmakers got a surprise visit.

With letters in hand, representatives of the state's public, private and technical education institutions went door-to-door to convince legislators to put more money into the financial aid system.

They say the increase is more important now than ever.

"Students have greater need because they and their parents have lost their job sometimes their homes."

Rolf Wegenke says right now the state has anywhere from $50-60 million set aside for aid.

But when you divide that up, it only comes out to a few thousand dollars per student.

And it's because of the students that Wegenke, President of the WAICU, joined the alliance.

" The focus is not on the institution. It is on the students."

Students like 19-year old Casey Knight.

Knight says, " About as middle America as I think you can get."

Knight is a sophomore at Edgewood College in Madison and says he's seen a lot of people come and go on campus.

But this year more have been going because of financial hardship.

" People were leaving for different reasons. Last year it was...you know it wasn't the right fit, they wanted a bigger institution, those types of things. This year the financial aid question has come up a little more often, " says Knight.

In a week we'll find out if the day's efforts did any good.

Win, lose or draw Knight says he's happy to see schools going to bat for their students.

The group didn't have an exact figure in mind as they pounded the pavement today.

But, Wegenke says the Higher Educational Aids Board, which is a state agency, recommended at least a five percent increase in financial aid funding.