Financial aid is an important resource for students who want to attend college in the U.S. but don’t have enough money. Financial aid is offered by banks, the government, and the school a student plans to attend. But research shows the amount of financial aid colleges and universities provide low-income students has decreased. The National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, collects information about education across the country. Last year the NCES, a part of the Department of Education, reported that more than 41 percent of all full-time students attending college for the first time in 2014 received financial aid from their school. But the NCES report also shows the average amount of institutional aid for low-income students has decreased steadily from 1996 to 2012. The average amount of institutional aid given to the lowest-income students was $2,540 in 1996.