SALEM (AP) - Legislators voted to more than double the amount of money that Oregon spends annually on student aid.

The House on Wednesday almost unanimously approved the budget for the agency that administers college financial aid. The bill now moves to the Senate, where passage is expected.

Most of the increased aid - which starts in fall 2008 - will go toward a new program that would increase the number of Oregon students eligible for grants to attend a private college, public university or community college.

The new program would boost the average award and swell the number of eligible students from 25,000 to 32,000. Students who work, borrow or otherwise come up with a portion of their school costs would be guaranteed help from the state.

Under the aid plan, for example, a full-time 19-year-old community college student who lives in a household with an income of $30,000 would get about $3,400 a year compared with $1,400 now. A full-time, 20-year-old state university student with a household income of $50,000 could get $900, compared with zero today. A full-time, 27-year-old state university student with a household income of $10,000 could get roughly $4,800 a year, compared with nothing now.

Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski, told The Oregonian newspaper that those aid estimates could change as tuition and federal grant guidelines change in the next two years.

Kulongoski has called the passage of the new program one of his top education priorities for the current legislative session.

College affordability has been a central issue in Oregon for years, picking up steam after the state was embarrassed by failing grades in national surveys on the topic. Oregon ranks 45th on state spending on colleges and universities, according to the association of State Higher Education Executive Officers.