It's your typical 2 a.m., winter 2002

It's your typical 2 a.m., winter 2002. New York University's fall semester is in full swing, midterms are looming ever closer and Bobst Library is filled with caffeine-addled minds and tired eyes. For a few, the caffeine just couldn't last long enough, and they have collapsed face down into their books.

On the 24-hour basement level, Steve Stanzak has fallen asleep as well, snuggled into his sleeping bag under some desks, hoping that tonight the guards won't wake him up. But for Steve, this is no power nap.

I first ran into Steve at a NYU dorm party. Somehow we got to talking about housing options and he mentioned casually that he was living in the library. I attempted to sympathize, saying, "don't we all" with a little shrug. He laughed and replied, "Yeah, but I actually am living in the library. A-level to be exact."

After eight months of Steve sleeping, washing and living in the library, school officials eventually discovered the secret life of "Bobst boy." His parents provided no financial support and though he was working up to four jobs simultaneously, he couldn't afford housing. So he had to choose between living on the streets and coming up with a more creative solution.

Though he used to get weird looks in the library bathrooms for brushing his teeth and had to make do with an all McDonald's diet because he had no kitchen access, his life of library living was sometimes strangely normal. He kept up with classes, worked various jobs, chatted online and did his homework. Asked why he didn't just go to the university administration, Steve explains, "I didn't want to drop out of school and I didn't know what NYU was going to do with me. I know people who couldn't pay for housing and tuition and had to drop out. I definitely didn't want to do that!"

Though Steve's story is clearly one-of-a-kind, elements of it may hit close to home for other struggling college students: working hours and hours at part-time jobs, signing their lives away with heaps of loans through Sallie Mae, receiving scholarship money, and still not making ends meet.

The angry din from struggling students and grumbling parents is increasing at almost the same exponential rates as tuition hikes. In the past few years, increases have averaged a steady 5 percent to 8 percent. At expensive private schools like NYU, the cost of learning this past year looks something like this:

Average Tuition - $28,617

Average Housing - $10,149

Average Meal Charge - $1,536

Average Books - $600

Cost of learning - Your calculator batteries dying and your heart stopping at the mere thought of the decades it will take you to pay off all those loans.

Rising costs are not limited to private universities, but extend to public universities as well. Last year alone, the average tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges and universities grew $487 (or 10.5 percent). According to Bob Shireman, a former education advisor for President Clinton, "the increases over the longer term are a result of the general increase in the cost of hiring highly-educated people . . . However, the cause of recent increases at public colleges has been cuts in state funding." And this is where major national politics trickles down to the everyday and kicks you in the a--.

With states facing tighter budgets due to federal tax cuts, the war on terrorism, President Bush's war in Iraq, and so on, public universities are getting less money from the government and are demanding more money from their students.

In order to afford college, many low- and middle-income students rely on government aid programs. In President Bush's last State of the Union he reassured these students with cuddly promises. "We will make it easier for Americans to afford a college education, by increasing the size of Pell Grants." To the 5.5 million students who receive these grants, his pledge must have felt like a big bag of IOU's had floated away.

However, his proposed enhancements to the Pell program fall far short of what is needed to keep a college education possible for all Americans. Essentially, the Bush plan calls for a $500 increase in the size of the grants over five years, which is pathetic addition compared to the average increase in costs at four-year public universities last year alone ($824). It's as if Bush is heading out to the beach with a toy pail, declaring that he'll stop the high tide with it. Thanks a lot.

Further offsetting this already meager Pell Grant increase is the practical eradication of the Perkins Loan Program, in which colleges match federal funds with low-interest loans. Essentially, under Bush's plan there will be no new federal capital given to the program, leaving it up to the colleges to continue funding the loans from other sources. Cutting one program to slightly boost another isn't a sustainable solution, but just a sleight of hand to give Americans the illusion of change.