College-bound hold heavy financial burden - ROBIN ERB, Detroit Free Press

Michigan's college-bound aren't alone in their financial pain. In recent years, the cost for higher education has grown across the country as schools increasingly rely on tuition, according to national data. This year, a proposed loss in state aid in the University of California system is so pronounced that it has capped freshmen enrollment, in addition to hiking tuition and fees. In Florida, where state aid had kept tuition among the lowest in the nation for years, students are to see a 15% hike in tuition bills this year -- the maximum allowed by law. At the other extreme is Michigan's southern neighbor. Two years ago, Ohio leaders made a trade-off with its higher education system: The schools would freeze tuition for two years in exchange for millions more in state funding.