Higher tuition rates and slashed state appropriations to colleges denied at least 250,000 prospective students access to college in the 2003-4 fiscal year, and governors and state lawmakers must enact "emergency measures" to keep that number from growing in 2004-5, according to the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education.

The nonprofit research organization makes that argument in a statement, scheduled for release today, that is being sent to policy makers in all 50 states.

The statement, which was prepared by officials from the public-policy center and from several other college-advocacy organizations, recommends that colleges provide space for all eligible students, especially those from low- and middle-income families, at an affordable price.

"This is a one-time, short-term set of proposals aimed at people setting budgets in the next couple of months," said David W. Breneman, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and a member of the panel that drafted the recommendations. The statement, a two-page letter, has been sent to college officials as well as to all 50 governors and to state legislators who are members of higher-education and finance committees.

The statement is the most urgent and explicit that the center has ever published, said Patrick M. Callan, the organization's president. "We believe this is a crisis," he said. "It is the governors and legislators who own this issue. They are writing the budgets and setting the priorities."

The letter makes suggestions for both the immediate and distant future. For the coming fiscal year, it urges lawmakers in states that must reduce higher-education spending to avoid making those cuts more severe than cuts for other state agencies. Institutions that primarily serve low- and middle-income students should not see cuts and should have their tuition rates temporarily frozen, the statement says. State-based financial-aid programs should receive at least level funds, even if the money must be taken from other college appropriations.

Public research universities should increase their tuition in proportion to the state's ability to increase financial aid, the statement continues. In addition, states should create and enforce a consistent financial-aid policy. Finally, they should not try solutions that ultimately hurt them in other ways, such as recruiting more out-of-state students to raise revenue but thereby reducing the number of slots for state residents.

States that increase spending on colleges in 2004-5, the statement recommends, should concentrate the funds at institutions with growing enrollments, not dissipate the extra money through inflation-based increases for all programs. Rises in tuition should not exceed each state's rate of growth in family income, the letter says. State governments should create new financial-aid programs, even if they must take money from other college appropriations in order to do so.

To ensure affordable access in the long term, the statement suggests that each state strive to make its colleges operate more efficiently. Transfer policies should guarantee that all qualified community-college students can transfer to four-year colleges, the letter says. Lawmakers should set statewide goals for improving affordable access to college and start taking steps to reach them.

Colleges are an appealing target for budget cutters because "states got into the habit of using higher education as a cash cow during recessions," Mr. Callan said. But using colleges as a short-term budget fix has led to more students paying more for college, and assuming greater debt to stay in, he said. They also drop out or never apply at all because they cannot -- or think they cannot -- afford it.

Cutting higher-education spending as a quick budget salve limits college access and affordability at the same time that the college-age population is growing and higher education is practically mandatory for economic success.

"As a prudent piece of public policy, we've played this game before," said Mr. Breneman, of Virginia. "It's time to play something else."