Danita Long, 43, is a senior education major at Baker University in Baldwin City. She’s financing her schooling, and because the costs are so high, her freshman daughter, Jessica Long, is paying her own way to attend Baker.

“It’s astronomical what a student has to pay to be here,” Jessica Long said.

The Longs and other Baker students teamed up with “Got Tuition?” to host a Day of Action in the Harter Union on campus. “Got Tuition?” is a national, nonpartisan campaign sponsored by the National Education Association. They spent the afternoon registering students to vote and getting them to sign a petition urging Congress to help make college more affordable. They also gave out information about what the presidential candidates have said about higher education.

“There (are) 400,000 high school kids that are eligible to go to college that can’t afford it,” Danita Long said. “This petition that we’re trying to do and the legislation that we’re trying to pass is trying to help those people out, along with current students.”

Long said they registered more than 30 new voters within two hours.

For more information, visit gottuition.org.