A proposal was just made by Governor Crist allowing for an increase in tuition at FSU & other Florida universities. Although Florida has incredibly reasonable tuition compared to other public schools, this would still be a hard hit to the wallet in already trying economic times.

The increase in tuition is supposed to fund the salaries of professors and smaller class sizes. Still, I'm sure our tuition money will be used for other totally useless projects as well.

This ruling would allow universities to raise tuition by 15% a year... great. To those with Bright Futures scholarships who think they're off the hook, the outlook is not good. The scholarship will only cover the base tuition, but not the differential. In addition, 30% of the money made from the raise in price will be set aside for need based scholarships, but isn't everyone struggling right now?

So, now that we have a raise in tuition to look forward to, here are some suggestions for saving some cash. College expenses really add up so every little bit helps:

• Campus food locations are offering $5 drink cups that can be refilled with soda, tea, or coffee for $0.99 at the on campus Food Court, Einsteins, Quizno's & Starbucks!
• Most clubs and bars offer reduced cover for entrance by 11 or Midnight. Sometimes you can even get banded early & re-enter whenever you want.
• Take advantage of the free movies (with a student ID) offered every night at the Student Life Center.
• Get together and cook dinners with roommates & friends and chip in a couple bucks each for food supplies.
• The dollar stores in town are great for items like cleaning supplies, Christmas decorations, and shampoos on the cheap.
• If you want to get away or go home on weekends carpool with friends to cut down on gas prices and for some extra company on the drive.

We're college students, we're inventive, we'll come up with our own ways to beat this awful economic recession.