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WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the economy still in the throes of a national recession, three of the state's community college presidents traveled to the District to suggest ways that the federal government can help the schools better deliver services to their students.

The plea comes at a time when their campuses have enrolled more students than expected.

During a hearing Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol, the presidents of Baltimore city, Howard and Cecil community colleges told U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) of Pikesville that the surges in enrollment have coincided with flat funding from their respective counties, making it more difficult to accommodate the growing student populations.

At Howard Community College, enrollment increased by 11 percent this spring, but the county funded the school at almost the same level it did in fiscal 2009 — $25.1 million, Howard President Kate Hetherington told Cardin.

"Our enrollments have steadily been increasing and a large part of this enrollment is students returning to college because they lost their jobs and are seeking training to secure new employment," Hetherington said. "However, funding to support the necessary growth in services and faculty these students require has not kept pace."

At Cecil Community College, enrollment has jumped 13 percent this spring, yet the county increased the school's budget by less than 1 percent, said President Stephen Pannill.

Hetherington asked Cardin — the only member of Congress' Maryland delegation to attend the hearing — to push for an increase in the maximum Pell Grant to $5,550 for low-income students. Under the federal program, colleges give grants to low-income students so they can have access to higher education.

Among other requests, Hetherington said the federal government should provide another $4 million to its Strengthening Institutions Program, which gives direct aid to community colleges with large populations of minority, low-income and first-generation college students.

Some 47 percent of Maryland's higher education students are enrolled in community colleges, yet the state does not provide enough capital construction funding to keep pace with enrollment growth, Baltimore City College President Carolane Williams told Cardin.

"Because of aging and inefficient buildings, deferred maintenance costs are increasingly consuming more and more of community college budgets — money that could be spent on serving students and growing new programs to meet workforce needs," Williams said.

The state's community colleges, she added, are particularly important during economic downturns, because the schools offer training for employees and have programs to help stem shortages in certain occupations, such as nursing.

To that end, Williams said, the federal government needs to provide more financial support to rural communities that cannot take advantage of workforce development opportunities because of limited infrastructure and transportation.

Pannill agreed.

"Many of Maryland's community colleges are not connected to any type of public transportation," he said. "To be successful in our mission, we need to get students to our colleges and our graduates to their place of employment."

Other leaders, such as H. Clay Whitlow, executive director of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges, and Charlene M. Dukes, president of Prince George's Community College, attended the meeting, but did not say anything to Cardin.

Cardin said he would deliver the information provided by the community college presidents to the state delegation, which, along with the rest of Congress, is deliberating on President Obama's proposed fiscal 2010 operating budget.