• Age: 19

• Address: Anderson Township

• College status: Sophomore at Miami University, majoring in marketing

• Estimated cost: $31,750 a year

• How she'll make it happen: She has $10,000 in scholarships and a student loan and is working full time this summer as a server's assistant at Cold Spring Country Club. She also will work during the school year.

• How high college costs are affecting her: She attended the University of Dayton last year, but because of a 6 percent tuition hike and a disappointing financial-aid package, she's transferring to Miami, where she got more financial aid.

"It crushes me that I have to change, because I set everything out. I figured out the classes I was going to take for the next four years. I had my job all set. I had to think about, financially, if it was going to be worth it going into debt $120,000 when I graduate. A personal goal of mine is I'm going to pay for my college myself. I think it will be more rewarding in the end to know I have done all of this."