A newly released study of Kansas community colleges shows the number of students receiving federal financial aid jumped dramatically as the nation struggled to recover from the recession.

The study, “Powered By Pell: A Grassroots Perspective,” focuses on the flow of federal student aid across 17 of the state’s 19 community colleges. It found that from fall 2008 to fall 2010, the number of Pell Grants awarded spiked by 75%.

Women outnumbered male Pell Grant recipients nearly two to one. But over the two years studied, men made up ground. Their use of Pell Grants jumped 85% to 7,513, while women’s use increased 70% to 13,206.

The study was a product of the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center and Garden City Community College in southwest Kansas.

Comments from Republicans in Kansas who participated in Saturday’s presidential caucuses.

“If there’s anybody who’s really conservative, it’s him. He’s a strong evangelical believer, and that’s very important for me.” – Alan Locke, a 65-year-old retiree and Southern Baptist from Topeka who attended the caucus in his hometown and voted for Rick Santorum.

“We can relate to them. They have the same values we do.” – Josh Kelton, a 36-year-old Wichita engineer who supported Santorum after seeing both him and his wife at separate events.

“But it’s that thing – OK, who do I think probably stands the best chance against Obama? And I think it probably is Romney.” – Connie Kimble, a 67-year-old U.S. Veterans Administration worker from Topeka, who voted for Mitt Romney but acknowledged being torn between him and Santorum.

“I find the other candidates too radical religiously and they do not support the majority of women’s views. … It’s insane that people want religious freedom, but then they vote for someone so fanatically religious. Zealots are never good for government and that is what we have in the Republican Party now, except for Gingrich.” – Chris Nagy, 60, and education director from Wichita who supported Newt Gingrich.

“The American people right now, all we have to do is look on the TV, we see nothing but death, destruction. Ron Paul – not about any of that. … He wants to give people the right to choose whether they want to die in war.” – John Ellenbecker, a 27-year-old caregiver at the state hospital for the developmentally disabled in Topeka, who voted for Ron Paul, liking his position that the U.S. should scale back its military commitments.

“He’s conservative. He’s got conservative values. He’s honest. He’s real. He’s not old money.” – Roberta Currie, a 48-year-old hospital worker from Topeka, who voted for Santorum.

“Romney says what he thinks we want to hear. He’s like, ‘You want to hear this, so I’m going to tell you this.’ … Santorum seems to be on an even keel.” – Mamie Lindberg, 48, an unemployed administrative assistant from Alma, Currie’s friend, who also voted for Santorum and called Romney “wishy-washy.”

“He’s almost certainly going to get a share of them (national convention delegates) … I would call that a success for Romney.” – Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who endorsed Romney, after noting that Romney did not campaign in Kansas.

“He is an inside Washington man, because in the sense that is good – he knows how to get things done, reach across the aisle and he is very aggressive in his policies.” – Rebecca Wells, 55, a retired military wife from Wichita, who supports Gingrich.

“Everything he says is exactly what I think – pro-life, small government. I believe you should make policies that enable business to prosper as opposed to putting regulations in their way.” – Marcia Brungardt, a 56-year-old certified public accountant who voted for Santorum.

Compiled by John Hanna in Topeka and Roxana Hegeman in Wichita.

Senate Republican leaders are rolling out a proposal to create job growth in Kansas in manufacturing and bioscience industries.

The plan announced Friday includes targeted incentives for companies to build plants, produce goods and ship them out of Kansas. Companies would pay income taxes only on the portion of their sales that would occur inside Kansas.

The other portion would allow bioscience companies relocating to Kansas to be exempt from paying income taxes. It builds on the state’s efforts to create jobs through investments by the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

Seventeen GOP senators have signed on to the proposal, including Senate President Steve Morris of Hugoton, Vice President John Vratil of Leawood and Majority Leader Jay Emler of Lindsborg.

Hearings on the proposal are scheduled in the Senate tax committee.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is seeking a victory from caucuses in Kansas as he tries to dispel talk that the GOP nomination all but belongs to front-runner Mitt Romney.

The voting Saturday at 96 locations across the state determines how the state GOP allocates its 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, had three rallies in Kansas in the three days leading up to its caucuses. They were in Topeka, Wichita and the Kansas City area, all rich in votes.

He told supporters in the state that winning in Kansas was important to his efforts to overcome the advantage in delegates held by Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

But some Kansas Republicans see Romney’s nomination as inevitable.