TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey lawmakers are pushing to offer financial aid to students living in the state illegally after a think tank study suggested in-state tuition rates expanded to illegals in 2013 isn’t good enough.

“In 2013, New Jersey finally joined 18 other states in offering qualified New Jersey high school graduates the opportunity to attend its public colleges paying the same in-state tuition rates as their peers,” Gordan MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, told NorthJersey.com.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“That was an important step but not effective enough, since almost all undocumented students come from families earning only enough income to barely hang on.”

NJPP counted 577 illegal immigrant students taking advantage of the in-state rates during the fall of 2015, accounting for less than 1 percent of New Jersey undergraduates.

The study found that the average annual income of an undocumented family in New Jersey is $34,000 a year, which is reportedly not enough to cover tuition and living expenses. Students surveyed blamed a lack of financial aid for not attending four-year schools, according to the news site.

“Funds to offer eligible undocumented students financial aid would amount to about $7 million annually, about half of the state’s current allotment for state financial aid support,” EducationDive reports.

NJ.com reported in March that New Jersey has a $1 billion budget deceit through 2017.

EducationDive offered a Press-Telegram article from June to highlighted how aid set aside for illegals through the California Dream Act has still gone unused five years after it was approved, something local education officials blamed on fear of deportation.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

“About a third of the overall awards went unused last year, even after careful vetting of applicants for low income, high school grades and other eligibility factors. Making matters worse, nearly half of the Cal Grants awarded for community college costs were left on the table, as millions of state dollars earmarked for immigrant students went unspent,” the Press-Telegram reports.

Regardless, the Policy Perspective study, published Monday, is clearly designed to bolster legislation introduced by Assemblyman Gary Schaer in January that would allow illegal immigrants to qualify for state aid. He told NorthJersey.com a recent $14 million in tuition aid grants approved for students heading to four year schools could be diverted to illegal immigrants.

Schaer’s legislation follows a reported compromise between Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the Democrat controlled assembly in 2013 in which Christie approved in-state tuition for illegals through the Tuition Equity Act after Democrats removed a provision to offer state aid as well.

“Our hope is that the clear storyline that we’re finding in the data – that the policy isn’t having its desired effect without access to aid – would help change his mind,” NJPP vice president Jon Whiten told the news site.

The state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority is also working to make it easier for children of illegal immigrants to secure state financial aid.

In late June, the agency announced it would no longer deny applications for aid that contain missing or fraudulent Social Security numbers for parents. Previously, the Authority would initially reject the application and compel students to prove they are legal residents. Many students apparently did not want to expose their illegal parents to the scrutiny, CNN Money reports.

“Commencing in this coming academic year 2016-2017 … any student who answers that their parents are New Jersey residents on the FAFSA — even if an invalid Social Security number is provided — will no longer receive an initial denial,” wrote agency spokesperson Marcia Karrow in an email.

“Often the kids either didn’t know they had the option [to appeal], or feared they’d expose their parents’ undocumented status,” Maria Juega, executive director of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, told the news site.