For Mike Skamiera, a two-week $10 allowance stretched a long way for his first few years at MSU.

It was how he afforded school. If he spent the money, it was on books or deodorant.

“The money I made, I had to throw in the bank and try to save it up,” Skamiera said. “I might have only spent $2 in two weeks sometimes.”

Coming from a low-income background, the finance senior pocketed enough change from loans and work to pay his four years at MSU, where he’ll receive a bachelor’s degree in May.

Skamiera’s route to college was slightly different than most other students who apply to the university. He’s a part of MSU’s College Achievement Admissions Program, or CAAP, which he says allowed him opportunities he otherwise wouldn’t have received because of his financial situation.

“I wanted the best education I could get, and at the time, Michigan State was rated No. 1 for it’s education program,” Skamiera said. “I knew it would be expensive, but I just kind of blocked it out of my mind.”

It was his “second home” in MSU’s CAAP that he qualified under as a low-income, first-generation college student to be able to do that blocking.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s great. Free tutoring makes it easier on you and the advisers help, too.”

According to a study released last week, many low-income students like Skamiera need financial aid and help from programs such as MSU’s CAAP to afford four-year public colleges in 45 states, including Michigan. The study, conducted by the Lumina Foundation for Education, said only Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky and Wyoming offer four-year public colleges that are affordable to low-income students. The foundation is a nonprofit company that services student loans.

The program provided him a job his sophomore year as a computer lab attendant. Since his junior year, he worked at the front desk in the program’s Office of Supportive Services.

University spokesman Terry Denbow said affordability is part of MSU’s tradition and commitment to its students. Many different financial aid packages are available to students, he said. Campus jobs, awards and grants are some types of financial aid.

“We share everyone’s concern about affordability, and that’s why we have done something with it,” Denbow said. “We package institution, state and private dollars to make sure we are affordable to those most in need.”

Denbow also said students are financially protected by MSU’s Tuition Guarantee, which says tuition will not be raised higher than the projected rate of inflation. The guarantee was suspended this year for an 8.9 percent tuition increase.

But Derek Price, director of higher education research for the Lumina Foundation for Education and co-author of the study, said MSU isn’t affordable to low-income students, despite its Tuition Guarantee or financial aid packages.

At MSU, Price said he found a low-income first-year student’s budget reflected an average bill of $2,500 even after utilizing a $2,625 federally subsidized student loan, personal and family resources, federal Pell Grant, state aid and institutional aid had been subtracted from his or her budget. The study defines a student who cannot afford tuition as someone who utilizes all his or her financial aid resources, and still must pay $500 or more to attend a university.

“We would like to work with people so more people can attend college,” Price said.

He said a high tuition may create financial hardships for students, which can hinder education. He said some of the hardships students may face include working more than 15 hours a week, working two jobs, not being able to attend social events and taking longer to finish their college educations.

“Hardships increase the chances of a student not succeeding,” Price said. “We want to minimize those risks, and I think Michigan State would want to work with us to find ways to help minimize them.”

Economics Professor Charles Ballard said he agrees with keeping tuition down, but not if students would have to make a low-quality education tradeoff.

“In terms of pricing, let’s take the Ivy League schools for example,” Ballard said. “These places are much more expensive (than MSU). They are like a Cadillac. But if you cut those prices too low, you get a Yugo.”

Skamiera said the alternative admissions program helped minimize his academic hardships with its supportive resources, but said he still had financial problems at times. Tuition expenses were as high as $1,200 a semester with applied financial aid. Skamiera also had to pay doctor bills.

“I had no books, plus I had a ton of bills,” Skamiera said. “It’s either pushing my financial problems off until later or not going to school at all.”

A seizure last spring caused several doctor bills that made him seek help from financial aid officers this fall. The officers helped him get loans to pay for most of the doctor bills and his school books.

The option of loans may work for some students, but other students are not as fortunate, said Betty Sandford, a coordinator within the alternative admissions program.

Sandford said one of CAAP’s programs SUPER - Summer University Program Encouraging Retention - is designed for low-income and first-generation students. It allows full financial support - but only for the summer.

Although the retention rate for the first year of the program usually is 100 percent, the second year often drops to 95 percent because some students can’t afford tuition, Sandford said. The benefits of the program include at least 10 free credits, books and about a $20 stipend, but only half of the people that apply are accepted because of the program’s benefits. Out of the 35 people who are accepted every year, the program gives them a chance to build confidence while they have no expenses.

“These students need more support to make it through something other than a revolving door,” Sandford said.

Although the number of students allowed in program is limited, Sandford said she can see it expanding.

Skamiera, who went through the program the summer before his freshman year, said it helped him both academically and financially.

“They didn’t want us working, so they gave us about $20 a week,” Skamiera said. “They really wanted us to concentrate solely on books. I think that helps so you don’t have to worry about five things at once.”

But when Skamiera is billed for tuition, he said he refuses to let his mother, who works at a grocery store, help pay for his education by using a parent loan.

“If I used that, I would get more money,” Skamiera said. “But my mother doesn’t need that.”

Skamiera said he “sticks to his guns” and does whatever he can to get through school. While loans continue to pile up, he said he finds ways to cut down on expenses.

“I would say about 90 percent of the time I went to Caf-II-Go, I would throw it in the fridge and save it for later,” Skamiera said. “I also buy a six pack of water and just refill them from the water fountain.”

But when Skamiera can’t find a way around an expense, he never forgets who he needs to repay when he gets the money. When he opens his black planner to the first page there’s a little list of expenses that he’s determined to pay back to his mother.

“I beat a lot of stuff,” he said. “But the four years just blew by. It’s just time to get on with my life - I did it.”

Alison Barker can be reached at barkera6@msu.edu.