DAHLONEGA — Georgia’s public college students will pay more to attend school in the fall following a tuition increase approved Tuesday by the state’s Board of Regents.
The board approved a 2.5 percent undergraduate tuition increase for 27 of the 31 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia. The rate change means most students will pay between $32 and $85 more in tuition each semester, depending on the where they are enrolled.
Students will see even greater increases at the system’s four research institutions:
- At Georgia Tech, tuition for undergraduates will rise 9 percent. Students will pay $372 more per semester.
- At the University of Georgia, tuition will increase 7 percent. Students will pay and additional $281 per semester
- At Georgia State and Georgia Regents universities, students will pay 4 percent more per semester, or $156 and $155, respectively, beginning in the fall.
This is the third year that the regents have set separate rates for these four institutions. The higher increases are implemented to keep the research colleges nationally competitive, and they are also a result of the high demand of students seeking enrollment at these universities.
The board approved the new rates during its monthly meeting, held this month at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. This meeting is one of two that the University System of Georgia’s governing body holds annually away from its Atlanta headquarters.
Last year, the board approved a 2.5 percent undergraduate tuition increase at most University System colleges, the same increase seen by most institutions the previous year. Like this year, students at the state’s four research institutions saw higher prices. Georgia Tech, for example, saw the largest increase at 7 percent. Tech students paid $4,129 per semester, or $270 more than the previous year.
Before the recession, state funding covered about 75 percent of college expenses; the remaining 25 percent was covered by tuition. But as state revenue declined and agency budgets were cut, the University System increased tuition to make up the losses. Now, the funding split has leveled out to 50-50, with tuition funding half of college costs.
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