The current economic crisis is worrying to parents of college students. Where will the money come from to pay 2009 tuition bills? Will cash-strapped colleges with shrinking endowments implement tuition hikes to cover budget shortfalls? How will the economy affect college admissions?

Not necessarily.

According to the Sunday New York Times, colleges are actually expanding aid to draw in students in a downturn.

With only tiny endowments, they need full enrollment to survive, and they are anxious to prevent top students from going elsewhere. Falling even a few students short of expectations can mean laying off faculty, eliminating courses or shelving planned expansions.

The competition for students can play to the benefit of prospective parents:

California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks is advertising a public school price tag to any student accepted at the University of California, Santa Barbara, or at the University of California, Los Angeles — an average annual saving of $16,000 off the normal cost of $41,767.

One silver lining to the current economic crisis as you look at the college admissions process.