MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - There is a saying that you have to spend money to make money, this seems true especially to college students. In order to pay for their schooling, many students need to take out loans, then once they graduate they have to start paying them back. Some have to start paying them back even before they  find a career.  According to the Detroit Free press thousands of Michigan college students are getting hit with a combination of tuition hikes averaging 3.45 percent and interest rates twice as high. At Michigan State University tuition is rising especially for upperclassmen.

MSU student Blair Montgomery had this to say about student loans, "A lot of people take out loans with no idea or no actual plan of how they are going to end up paying them back. That's why student debt just sky rockets because it doesn't feel like its real money to them. They are just clicking a button on the computer that they accept the loan. Then you graduate and $55,000, that's a ton of money."

In just one year Michigan students are borrowing almost 1.9 billion at state public universities alone. It is a financial ball and chain for young professionals and a long-term economic problem for Michigan. Student loan debt is second only to mortgages as the largest debt that many people carry.

"Now if you don't go to college or don't have a Bachelors Degree at least its difficult. Its very competitive, the economy is not as good as it once was, so its definitely going to be worth it," explained Montgomery.