State officials are reporting an uptick in the number of residents going online to apply for government aid.

Officials say nearly 15 percent of Nebraskans applying for aid used a computer in the past year. That was the first year online applications were available for Medicaid, food stamps, aid to families with dependent children, energy assistance and child-care assistance.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says about a third of the 35,000 online applications received from September 2008 through July were sent after HHS offices closed.

The agency's Jeanne Atkinson says that in July alone, about 75 percent of the 4,300 people who applied online say they did so from their own homes, from the homes of friends or family, or from work.