A story about how students are coping with tuition increases at Michigan 's public universities includes comments by Alicia Keaton, associate director for financial aid here. She points out that there is keen competition for scholarships and grants and that more students are exploring options such as enrolling at community colleges. Wayne State junior Amie Michael of Royal Oak complained that tuition will increase 5.8 percent this fall, the year after an 18.5 percent increase. She said she prefers to live near campus but will move back to her parents' home for the fall term to conserve money. The article points out that state funding for public universities has declined from $6,840 per student in 2000-01 to $5,688 in 2005-06. Officials at the universities say a 3 percent increase in aid for 2006-07 is not sufficient to make up for previous cuts and rising expenses.