Message from Gov. Granholm to college students

Governor Jennifer Granholm has issued an open letter to college students across the state regarding the budget crisis. It reads, in part:

August is underway and that means friends are moving into their first apartments in Ann Arbor and Mt. Pleasant, parents are taking their sons and daughters to back-to-school sales in East Lansing and Grand Rapids, and freshmen are finalizing their first classes in Marquette and Kalamazoo. All across our state, this is a time when students should be excited for the start of another year at Michigan's top-notch colleges and universities. But, instead, recent spikes in college tuition rates have left Michigan families worried about how they're going to afford school and still keep gas in their tanks and food on the table. Many of you are just plain mad.

You should be. And I am, too.

As a parent, I'm mad about the dent these tuition hikes will put in our pocketbooks. Like many of you, my own daughter is starting college this fall. The dramatic rise in tuition and fees was an unwelcome surprise for our family and, most likely, for yours.

When you're opening your tuition bill in the coming weeks, it might seem easy to blame your school for the sharp increase. But the real problem is in Lansing. Michigan is in the middle of an urgent budget crisis and, so far, our legislature has failed to act.

The full letter is available here.

Here are a few other ways you can take action:

• Join the Facebook group Lower MI Tuition.
• Post a video on YouTube regarding the budget crisis.
• Print up one (or more) of these posters.
• Contact your state lawmakers.