An organization of Hispanic-serving colleges has called for Congress to offer more money and fewer restrictions on aid under Title V of the federal Higher Education Act -- a goal that was lauded on Tuesday by several U.S. lawmakers, even as they spoke about the difficulty of obtaining funds in the current climate of recession and decreased spending.

As Congress gears up to reauthorize the Higher Education Act for the next five years, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has outlined a number of changes that would increase aid to Hispanic students, particularly those who came to this country as undocumented immigrants, and help Hispanic-serving institutions develop additional academic programs, particularly teacher-education programs.

A number of these changes fall under Title V of the act, which provides funds for developing the curriculums, facilities, and endowments of Hispanic-serving institutions. For example, the Hispanic association is calling for Congress to increase federal spending on infrastructure enhancement to $465-million per year, authorize $30-million each year to create a Technology Enhancement Program under Title V, and eliminate the requirement that institutions seeking funds under Title V demonstrate that at least half of their student population is considered low income -- a requirement made of no other minority groups.

"We are here to urge members of Congress to join us in our efforts to upgrade and improve the chances for academic success for our largest, fastest-growing minority group," said Antonio R. Flores, president of the association, in a news conference on Tuesday.

Several lawmakers turned out to support the association's efforts, including Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Democratic Reps. Ruben E. Hinojosa of Texas and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Democratic Sens. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Barbara Boxer of California, who spoke of HACU's efforts as a chance to "offer the American dream to people who work for it."

Democratic Reps. James P. Moran of Virginia and Lucille Roybal-Allard of California both spoke about the importance of extending federal aid and in-state tuition rights to undocumented immigrants. Mr. Moran also took the opportunity to decry the lack of financing for the No Child Left Behind Act.

"It will not be easy getting funding for these programs," he warned. "Other education bills have not gotten the funding they need. But we have to try."