Sixty students from universities across the state rallied in front of the capital Monday advocating for a boost in education funding.

It's a coalition of student leaders from 11 UA campuses. The rally came at a time when the UA board of regents submitted the budget request for fiscal year 2008.

Supporters want more funding for UAF's biosciences facility, which has been a capital priority since 2002.

Robert Bell, postsecondary education, said, "Historically we have been effective. Some years we are more effective than others, but tenacity is key here. We are here every year. We will continue to be here every year, because every year things change.”

Bell said, "Across Alaska very few students as far as the total of the population goes are attending college, and we believe that the main factor in that is prohibitive costs of education today.”

The university has increased tuition by 10 percent every year since 2003. This fall it's up another 7 percent. There's talk of another 8 percent hike next year.