University System of Georgia raising 2017-18 tuition after no 2016-17 increase

Tuition will increase by 2 percent next school year at the University System of Georgia’s 28 institutions, following no increase for this school year, the state’s Board of Regents has announced.

For students attending Columbus State University, this change means undergraduate tuition will increase by $3.47 per credit hour, from $174.20 to $177.67, CSU noted in a news release Thursday. For in-state students enrolled in 15 hours for a semester, a typical full-time course load, the total tuition will increase by $52, from $2,613 to $2,665.

Including the increase for 2017-18, USG’s tuition has increased by an average of 2.2 percent annually during the past five years. Out of the 16 states in the Southern Regional Education Board, Georgia has now become the sixth-lowest in tuition and fees for four-year institutions, USG noted in its news release.

USG continues to try to minimize fee increases. The number of fee increases dropped from 67 in fiscal year 2012 to 12 for FY 2018, the system said in its news release. CSU has eliminated fees associated with 103 courses since the start of the 2016-17 academic year, totaling more than $300,000 in savings for students, the university said in its news release.

USG also continues to focus on increase its accessibility to online courses. Tuition for USG’s online core curriculum, eCore, will decrease by $10 per credit hour, from $159 to $169.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "University System of Georgia raising 2017-18 tuition after no 2016-17 increase."