As the Orlando Sentinel reports today, colleges are doing what they can to help students heading back to school and finding that Florida has cut their financial aid. Florida's state legislators voted this year to cut Bright Futures scholarships by freezing grants at last year's levels, leaving students to make up the gap for tuition increases of 8 percent at community colleges and 15 percent at state universities. Also gone is the books-and-materials stipend, and students must now complete 24 credit hours each year to renew their scholarships at the maximum amount.

Families who are struggling with job losses and higher prices across the board are getting nervous.

"How could they do this when everyone was counting on those scholarships?" said Carlos Ablanedo of Winter Springs, a teacher whose daughter plans to attend Seminole Community College. "It's making the kids very nervous at a time that's supposed to be exciting and happy."

Andrew Gleason, 21, of Deltona was worried that he would be unable to continue his work on a nursing degree at Daytona State College because of the out-of-pocket charges of a few hundred dollars he learned about at the last minute.

Making ends meet on part-time jobs to avoid going into credit-card or student-loan debt was hard enough without the added financial pressure, he said, so he's glad his family was able to come up with the cash so he can continue his studies this fall. He hopes to transfer to UCF to earn a bachelor's degree.

"My job prospects are good once I graduate," Gleason said of his chosen field. "I just hope I can afford to get it done."

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