• MSU senior Ashley Hall is finding it much more difficult to cook healthy foods since losing her Bridge Card.

UPDATE: EAST LANSING - For Michigan State University student Ashley Hall, the loss of her bridge card has made this school year more difficult than previous years. Hall was one of many students who lost their Bridge Cards in April after the state tightened eligibility requirements to keep college students from qualifying except in "very limited circumstances."

"It's definitely made things a lot harder this year," Hall says. "I'm paying for college on my own, so my work paychecks go to that. I got a Bridge Card to pay for groceries as soon as I moved out of the dorms and lost my cafeteria meal plan."

She says she's making things work but that it's become more difficult to stay healthy.

"I pretty much live on noodles, bread and cheese," she says. "Healthy food is expensive!"

Legislators claim the new regulations keep assistance programs from being taken advantage of, and Hall agree that this did happen too often under the looser eligibility rules.


ORIGINAL STORY: EAST LANSING - More than 30,000 Michigan college students lost their Bridge Cards this year as a result of stricter state policy, according to the Department of Human Services.