Board Of Regents Votes To Increase Tuition At Georgia Public Universities

SAVANNAH, GA: For the first time since 2017 the Georgia Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia has voted to increase tuition at Georgia's 26 public universities. The increase will have an impact on local institutions in the Columbus area.

The Board of Regents met in Savannah on Tuesday. During the meeting the Board voted to increase tuition at its 26 institutions across the state of Georgia. The increase will be around 2.5% at most institutions in the state for full-time in-state students enrolled at the schools.

The 2.5% increase will take effect this fall and range in amounts from $35 to $125 per semester for full-time students. At eleven schools across the state fees will increase between $4 to $50. In a bit of good news out of the meeting in Savannah, online tuition is expected to drop around 33% as efforts are in place to create a uniform rate throughout institutions in the state of Georgia.

Locally Columbus State University will see a tuition increase in the fall from $177.67 to $182.13 per credit hour. Out of state students at CSU will see the per credit hour rise from $627.07 to $642.73 according to the University System of Georgia's website. Full-time students at CSU have been paying $2,665.00 this past year for tuition. However, next year the cost should rise to around $2,732.00 for students at Columbus State.

Despite the increase, Georgia still maintains the fourth lowest tuition costs in the sixteen-state Southern Regional Education Board. The increases will go into place in the Fall of 2019. The Board of Regents has averaged an increase in tuition numbers around 1.7 percent over the past five years. There were no increases in 2016 or 2018.