The statewide tuition increase approved Tuesday by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia will cost each Georgia Southern University undergraduate, in-state student taking a normal course load $67 more for a semester, beginning this fall.

Meeting in Savannah, where they were jointly hosted by Georgia Southern and Savannah State University, the regents voted to increase tuition 2.5 percent for fiscal year 2020, which begins July 1. Across the state, depending on the type of school, the increase translates to $35 to $125 per semester.

Georgia Southern's in-state tuition for a student taking 15 credit hours, a normal load of courses, will rise from the current $2,665 to $2,732. This does not include the mandatory fees, which remain unchanged for fall semester. For out-of-state students taking 15 credit hours, tuition at Georgia Southern will increase from $9,406 currently to $9,641. Georgia Southern offers students from all neighboring states the much lower in-state rates at its Armstrong and Liberty campuses, in Savannah and Hinesville.

The tuition hike comes as Georgia Southern administrators have been working on a "budget redirection," with a goal of reducing spending by 10 percent. This followed a $15 million anticipated drop in funding officials blamed on a 4.7 percent decline over the past eight years in composite enrollment at Georgia Southern and the former Armstrong State University campuses that were made part of Georgia Southern at the beginning of 2018. 

But the tuition increase will also help stabilize the university's finances, Georgia Southern University President Dr. Kyle Marrero said Tuesday.

"The tuition increase the Board of Regents approved today assists Georgia Southern University in our efforts to move into a more fiscally sound position and allows us to continue to make strategic student-focused decisions for the future," Marrero said. "Affordability for our students is top of mind and we remain committed to ensuring student success bolstered by increased scholarship opportunities."

GS Director of Communications Jennifer Wise relayed Marrero's comment in an email.

'Less than inflation'

As the Board of Regents had also emphasized in its press release, Marrero noted that with this latest decision, the university system's tuition increases over the last five years have been held to an annual average of 1.7 percent. The board's statement asserted that this is "less than the rate of inflation" and noted that the board did not raise tuition in 2016 or 2018. 

"Limiting tuition increases to 2.5 percent will help enable institutions to balance the critical needs of affordability and quality for students and families," University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley said in the announcement. "At the same time, USG will continue building upon system-wide initiatives to ensure on-time college completion, increase student access to free textbooks and reduce student borrowing."

The university system provides free, open-source, online textbooks through the Affordable Learning Georgia initiative, which, the system reports, saves students $19 million a year. 

Also quoted in Tuesday's news release, interim Executive Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs Tracey Cook noted that the University System of Georgia ranks fourth-lowest in tuition and fees among university systems in the 16 states of the Southern Regional Education Board. This was down from sixth-lowest last year, so some of the surrounding states have increased rates more than Georgia has.

"USG continues to offer some of the lowest tuition rates among peer state public higher education systems," Cook said.

Fees unchanged

In a separate list approved Tuesday, the mandatory fees for Georgia Southern and most of the other colleges and universities remain unchanged for fall semester. At the Statesboro campus, Georgia Southern's activity, athletic, athletic activity, health, recreation, Recreation Activity Center, special institutional, sustainability, technology and transit fees total $1,046. The Armstrong campus has fewer listed fees, totaling $527. 

Georgia Tech has the highest tuition in the state system, $5,129 for in-state undergrads after Tuesday's increase. Georgia Southern's rate, $2,732, is the same as for the University of West Georgia, Valdosta State University and Columbus State University. Savannah State's tuition is a lower, $2,540.

Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.