Details of tuition increase spelled out

ATLANTA - Georgia college students will have to pay up to $450 more per semester in tuition and fees starting this fall and school-by-school details of the increase have been spelled out.

The Georgia Board of Regents voted Tuesday to raise tuition to deal with a massive shortfall because of state budget cuts, skyrocketing enrollment and dried-up federal stimulus money. The state's 35 colleges and universities are set to lose $346 million in funding for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Students and families are watching tuition increases closely after lawmakers cut back the HOPE scholarship program. Thousands of students who once received full tuition will get only a portion of that money starting this fall.
The changes were put in place to keep HOPE from going broke. The program was faced with flat lottery ticket sales and steep tuition hikes.

The three percent tuition increase means that for the four research universities (Georgia Health Sciences University, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia), undergraduate tuition this fall will be $3,641 per semester, an increase of $106 from fall 2010.

TUITION HIKE DETAILS

A number of USG institutions have specialized missions and tuition rates. At Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, Kennesaw State University, North Georgia College & State University, Valdosta State University and the University of West Georgia, students will pay $2,367 per semester, an increase of $69. Tuition will be $2,564 this fall at Southern Polytechnic State University, an increase of $75, and at Georgia College & State University $3,236, a $94 increase.

Undergraduate tuition at all other state universities will increase by $64 to $2,201 per semester. This includes Albany State University, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Augusta State University, Clayton State University, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Southwestern State University, and Savannah State University.

Undergraduate tuition at the state colleges will increase $41, to $1,388 per semester, including Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), the College of Coastal Georgia, Dalton State College, Gainesville State College, Gordon College, Macon State College and Middle Georgia College. Tuition at Georgia Gwinnett College will be $1,648 per semester this fall, a $48 increase.

Tuition at the two-year colleges will be $1,235, a $36 increase from fall 2009. This includes Atlanta Metropolitan College, Bainbridge College, Darton College, East Georgia College, Georgia Highlands College, Georgia Perimeter College, South Georgia College and Waycross College.

The special institutional fee will increase from $200 to $450 per semester at Georgia State, Georgia Health Sciences Univ. and UGA. The previously approved $200 special institutional fee at Georgia Tech will increase to $550 per semester.

At the other four-year institutions, the special institutional fee will increase from $150 to $250 per semester, and at the two-year institutions, from $100 to $200 per semester. The exceptions are Georgia Gwinnett and Coastal Georgia, where the special institutional fee will increase to $250 per semester.

AccessNorth Ga.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.