Although community colleges in California have some of the lowest tuition and fees in the nation, that does not guarantee access for low-income students, and colleges there could do more to help students apply for financial aid, according to a report released today by a nonprofit organization focused on making higher education more affordable, the Institute for College Access and Success.

Tuition represents only 5 percent of the estimated total cost of attending a California community college, according to the report, but the costs of books, housing, transportation, and other education-related expenses are sometimes insurmountable obstacles for potential students.

Financial aid, some of it federal, can help those students, but the report asserts that some community-college administrators in the Golden State do not do enough to help students seeking aid. Just 34 percent of community-college students in California seek grants, loans, or work-study aid, compared with 45 percent nationally. While the University of California system spent $152 per student on financial-aid administration during the 2005-6 academic year, community colleges in the state spent just $41 per student that year. —JJ Hermes