Regents turn to college students to cover budget cuts
As expected, public college students in Georgia will have to dig deeper to meet their bills next semester as the Regents grapple with new budget cuts.
Public college students including those at UGA will have higher fees next semester as a result of a Regents vote Tuesday.
AJC reporter Kristina Torres reports that the State Board of Regents voted this afternoon to double a mandatory student fee that, starting in January, will cost students up to an extra $100 per semester depending on which campus they attend.
Torres reports:
Regents instituted the fee last January, as the economy tanked and the state cut funding to Georgia’s University System. Now, university system officials said the state plans to cut an additional $41 million out of the higher education budget.
Increasing the student fee will make up about $24 million of that amount, according to the regents.
Students at Georgia’s research universities as well as Georgia Southern, Valdosta State, Georgia College and State, Kennesaw State, Southern Polytechnic and the University of West Georgia will now be charged $200 each semester. At most of the state’s other four-year colleges and universities, the fee will be $150. Students at two-year colleges will pay $100.
The fee is not typically covered by financial aid and for the most part comes directly out of students’ pockets.
I know that it seems students should be able to absorb an additional $100, but many families are already struggling to pay college bills. At some point, the state will have to look at whether cost is becoming a barrier to higher education.
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67 comments Add your comment
SouthGaDawg
November 17th, 2009
2:49 pm
LOL really? Is $100 really too much? “Cost a barrier to higher education?”
Get real. Tell those students to get a job if they’re worried about $100. Or (gasp) take out a loan. Nothing in this world is free. The students either have to pay the $100 now, or have it taken from them in taxes later on. Either way someone pays it.
Sarge
November 17th, 2009
2:50 pm
Exactly what services does the Regents provide…to be more direct, could higher education, within the state of Georgia, function in the complete absence of the Regents?
Poor College Kid
November 17th, 2009
2:51 pm
As a college student, the use of fees is just a way for financial aid, which for a fair amount of students in GA is through HOPE, not to have to cover the fee since it is only meant to cover the “tuition” cost. But if it is a fee that is levied against all students how is that different than tuition cost? It seems to me that this is designed to help spread out the HOPE scholarship money thinner and for a longer period of time. I just wish they didn’t try to disguise it as something else, like a “general purpose fee”.
oldtimer
November 17th, 2009
2:52 pm
At which point do college salaries recieve some cuts. Some state are doing thhis)Many are struggling to pay what they are paying. Many are doing so now without the parent support they had counted on or with less paying jobs themselves. Maybe there are some things colleges can do without for a while. You cannot just keep adding fees. I know one person on pell grant who only pays fees, working two jobs and supporting herself and missing meals unless friends help her. Her parents can only afford to help some with books and ocassional boxes of groceries due to a change in job status.
Bubba Smith
November 17th, 2009
2:54 pm
Was there ever any doubt that the Regents would vote for this increase? As soon as I heard there was a vote I knew what the outcome would be. Asking the regents if they want to increase fees is like asking a fat kid if he wants some candy. Meanwhile schools like Kennesaw State build unnecessary stadiums, music halls and cafeterias. If I’m going to be asked to pay additional fees because of budget cuts can’t I ask school officials to curb the extravagant spending?
ihorizon
November 17th, 2009
2:56 pm
Sorry I have to ask, what exactly is the “mandatory fee” supposed to cover? It does not specify in the article but when I went to one of the above listed colleges twenty years ago, I do not recall a “fee” but then again I had a scholarship which paid for my dorm and books. What is the purpose of a “fee”? To be a member of that school or college, to pay for electricity or school athletics programs? I would suggest that students take online courses nowadays…something that was not available couple decades ago before the internet was invented.
Robert
November 17th, 2009
2:56 pm
The teachers are not worth the raise from my wallet and the administrators are worth even less
barbara
November 17th, 2009
2:58 pm
Tell them to pay for it. That is so stupid I bet they get there raises now!!!!
Bubba Smith
November 17th, 2009
2:59 pm
And another thing. These fees are merely taxes. Taxes on those who would attend a state school. And what effect do taxes have on the activity for which they are levied? That activity is reduced. Therefore what the regents are doing is to reduce overall attendance at the school which will just pinch their budget even more. If they really want to increase their revenue they should be encouraging people to attend by REDUCING fees.
Typical
November 17th, 2009
3:09 pm
So, just to clarify: in exchange for more and more part-time instructors teaching classes, fewer course offerings, services being cut left and right, and an overall lower-quality education, we get a $100 increase in fees. Perfect.
The inflation in costs for higher education continues to spiral out of control while the quality of that education continues to fade. In most situations, this ridiculous cost inflation would price buyers out of the market, but since colleges represent an effective monopoly on higher education, there’s really no alternative but to suck it up and pay the fees, and the regents know that. Is someone three years into a four-year degree supposed to drop out because of a fee increase? Of course not.
Mark it down, this won’t be the last time either; we’ll be seeing a similar story just in time for Fall semester as well – AFTER most incoming students have made their college choice.
Ridiculous.
Disgusted parent
November 17th, 2009
3:12 pm
The fees required for my daughter to attend UGA are more than I paid for tuition in 1984. The fact is that the System is cleaning out Hope for tuitions that are over priced and still getting the same amount from parents as they did in 1984. Look at how much ole pres. Adams spent on his lavish trips overseas recently covered in the Red and Black. 12K just on airfare alone. Next year I will have to kids in college and have to pay twice as much for a grad assistant from some foreign country to teach my child. Get the damn auditors over there to find out why all this money is disappearing and why the Regents think students should have to pay for their garbage.
Regents What are they Stupid?
November 17th, 2009
3:14 pm
Stop taking the shirt off our backs to pay for lavish trips and high salaries at Georgia colleges and universities.
Punchy
November 17th, 2009
3:20 pm
May be the Regents should also ask schools like Kennesaw to stop building parking lots, new buildings, stadiums during the troubled times. I bet the money saved will be more than $41 million.
Ed Alverson
November 17th, 2009
3:20 pm
Bubba Smith made an excellent point about extravagant spending. Kennesaw State built a fancy cafeteria and requires all full time students, even commuters, to sign up for an expensive meal plan in order to pay for the cafeteria. Does our legislature have the authority or the will to step in and tell the Regents, “Enough is enough?”
Kat
November 17th, 2009
3:21 pm
Typical….pass the cost along to those who can least afford it.
Regents What are they Stupid?
November 17th, 2009
3:22 pm
Take a look at this bunch and tell me if you think any of them has been hurting for money recently. Nuf said. Get some people on the board who are all not rich fat cats that are more in touch with reality.
http://www.usg.edu/regents/members/
ihorizon
November 17th, 2009
3:22 pm
How does one go about firing Regents???
ugaaccountant
November 17th, 2009
3:24 pm
This blog covers the underlying thought. This is simply pushing tuition costs back onto the students/parents, so that the state/hope budget will balance. No thought is ever given to cutting expenses or even better using the endowments to do what they are supposed to do, which is allow students in rough economic climates to still afford school. This is the rough economic climate, so a good move would be to waive these fees and pay for it from the endowment.
I believe I read in a recent UGA magazine that $125 million was raised for the endowment last year, a school record. If the math above is correct $50 million could eliminate this fee entirely for the entire state! So instead of saving that $125 million for a rainy day, let’s declare today as the rainy day and invest in training our best and brightest to help us work ourselves out of this economic mess.
GRRRRRR
November 17th, 2009
3:33 pm
Rediculous, absolutely rediculous. So because the board can’t manage a budget, the students they rely on are now just supposed to pay more?
Let me share some information with all of you…
Every building on every single campus has what? Furnishings. I’m not talking about $50/chair or a $150 table. We’re talking about millions on furnishings including technology. One school, in particular, just purchased new furnishings for only two small classrooms, not large lecture halls, but classrooms that will seat less than 30. Total cost for only the furnishings….wait for it….$250,000. You read that right. Another school that recently built an entire new building has hallways lined with flat screen TVs (big ones) that do nothing more than show the weather forcasts. How much do you think twenty 50″ flat screen TVs cost? Would you consider that a necessary purchase? I sure don’t.
Hmmm…wonder where all the money is going?
bob
November 17th, 2009
3:37 pm
they raise the fees because they know it will come out of hope funds
College Faculty & Staff
November 17th, 2009
3:39 pm
We did not get raises this year, are not getting raises next year. We also had to take 3 furlough days (off without pay) before the end of 2009 and will have at least 3 more before June 30, 2010 so it is costing us, too!
mike
November 17th, 2009
3:43 pm
Just yesterday there was an article in the AJC about lottery officials huge salaries and greedy bonuses…it mentioned how less and less money is going to the Hope Scholarship.
Until recently I would probably buy $25.00 to $30.00 on scratch tickets. Over the course of many years, I yet to win more than a frickin ticket, a dollar or two dollar winning ticket.
For once it would be a miracle to even win $50.00 or a $100.00 ticket.
Lottery officials are only concerned about lining their own pockets. They only give back the bare minimum.
Jeff
November 17th, 2009
3:49 pm
This is going to be fun. I’ve already paid for Spring Semester at SPSU.
Is this going to amount to a bait and switch?
Typical
November 17th, 2009
4:05 pm
Those of you budgeting educational expenses for next year should go ahead and budget in a $200 fee increase. This won’t stop. The USG has an effective monopoly on higher education in-state and are taking every advantage. If you’re a junior in a four-year school, are you going to drop out over a $100 increase? Of course not – the USG has students over a barrel and the regents know it.
Meanwhile, thanks to grade inflation in GA high schools, more “temporary instructors” teaching classes, and services being cut left and right, the quality of the education continues to diminish as the price goes up.
Jimmy
November 17th, 2009
4:08 pm
This is ridiculous. Because of the access to student loans and scholarship money, Georgia colleges have been arbitrarily raising tuition for years. It is no different than the mortgage crisis. When financing suddenly becomes available to anyone under the sun, home prices just went up, up and away. Now you have students with mountains of debt entering a job market where none are available.
Donaldo
November 17th, 2009
4:17 pm
OK, let me understand this. The Regents want to increase student fees due to budget shortfalls, meanwhile, Lottery Bonuses are way up. Seems to me that the Regents should exert whatever influence they have, which is probably not much, to get the Lottery to cover any shortfalls vs increases on already strapped families. Do you see what I see? It is pretty obvious what they need to do. Question is: Do they have the guts to face the public?? I doubt it. Stop buying lottery tickets and giving bonuses to staff, instead donate to a worthwhile college charity.
jamlock
November 17th, 2009
4:23 pm
The HOPE “scholarship” has sunk the quality of colleges and universities in this state. Now, every ditch digging idiot can go to college (with the horribly low entrance standards) and expect to succeed. Sorry, but when get those D’s and F’s that first semester, don’t blame me, blame those who didn’t prepare you in the first place. I say lock HOPE in place, then DOUBLE tuition so that you people can start paying closer to what your education actually costs.
Regents What are they Stupid?
November 17th, 2009
4:24 pm
Bob, the fees are not paid for by hope. My daughter has a student loan which is where the almost 500$ worth of fees will now come from. After this there is not enough money left to pay for 6 months of room and board which must now come from my ever dwindling money tree. I recently read a story in the Red and Black about a junior at UGA having to live out of his car because amounts available for student loans did not make living in an apartment affordable regardless of the number of roommates to share the burden. Some amount of common sense is got to come to the Regents. As for the person above name College Faculty and staff we feel your pain. My wife is a teacher and has the same issue of taking up to 7 days without pay this year. Yet we still must find more money to pay these out of control fees imposed when paying for school.
jamlock
November 17th, 2009
4:25 pm
Hahahaha….about time you people started paying closer to what your college education actually costs.
ihorizon
November 17th, 2009
4:28 pm
While I was in college couple counties away from home, my highschool girlfriend went to a smaller campus closer to her home as she had no car. She called me very upset one day as she mentioned her campus had suddenly closed down and there were many students who were studying in mid-semester who now as well as herself found out there were no more classes. She was so upset that the school suddendly shut down without notice or knowledge to the students therefore it was a long time before she finished her degree. The campus was empty for a long while before it was bought by a weathly lady who if I am not mistaken wanted to reopen it but there were so many frustated students who either relocated or had already decided against going back to the same campus for fear of losing their tuitions and study credits. The building is still empty I think.
ugaaccountant
November 17th, 2009
4:32 pm
Jamlock – a mere 10 years ago, the cost was quite reasonable for in-state kids. Tuition was drastically lower, these fees were about $10, and room and board was quite reasonable. Even books hadn’t gotten as out of control as they are now.
I haven’t seen any real analysis of what the difference is, but my guess is the state has severely lowered their share of the funding.
GRRRRRR
November 17th, 2009
4:39 pm
Here’s a little insider info that goes along with the comment about Kennesaw State’s extravagant spending…
One college just purchased new furnishings and technology for only 2 classrooms that will seat less than 30 people each. Less than 30! The cost of these purchases…wait for it…$250,000+. You read that right.
Another college built a whole new building that has flat screen TVs lining the hallways that do nothing more than show weather forcasts. Any idea what twenty 52″ flat screens cost? Extravagant spending? I think so. That same school now closes their campus (locks all buildings) from Friday through Sunday, including the library, to conserve money. Hmmmm…nothing fishy about that. Maybe they should sell those TVs and open the library for a day.
Why is it that the view from the top is so bad? Do the money colored glasses block the view?
jamlock
November 17th, 2009
4:48 pm
UGA….wrong….do the comparisons. Tuition hasn’t significantly changed in this state in the last 10 years BECAUSE of HOPE. It can’t, it’s tied to HOPE. HOPE has done more to lower the quality of post secondary education in this state than anything. I say freeze HOPE, then double the cost of tuition to bring us more in line with the region.
Donaldo
November 17th, 2009
5:20 pm
While I feel the pain in those being furloughed, let me give me you a REALITY check. I, like millions, are self employed, if I don’t sell a product, I make ZERO. Talk about accountability!! This month my sales are off 40=50%, so my college aged son is getting nothing towards his education, because the $$ are not there. We have a generation at stake all because of the inability of leaders, administrators, educators, to get out of their comfort zone to face reality. Let me tell you all, the world has changed, we need vision, strong and effective leadership, passing along an increase to students demonstrates that we have none of this with the Regents. Stupid is as Stupid does. You get what you get.
concerned in Gwinnett
November 17th, 2009
5:49 pm
My daughter attends West Georgia and she has been unable to take the necessary Anatomy and Physiology courses as a prerequisite to her major due to an apparent shortage of classes and teachers. We are already not getting our money’s worth!
catlady
November 17th, 2009
5:51 pm
Perhaps cut tuition waivers for foreign nationals (usually Asian grad assistants)? Increase the credit hours each prof has to teach, to a full load per semester? Cut back on amenities.
And, on the Lottery: why don’t we boycott it for a month? Show our strength, that we expect the EXCLUSIVE, STATE CHARTER GRANTED “private” lottery to put in the full 35% to HOPE.
And, for goodness sake, make HOPe a real scholarship FOR SCHOLARS.
The Regents are sadly out of touch. All wealthy people, they don’t have a clue.
ugaaccountant
November 17th, 2009
5:55 pm
Correct me if i’m wrong Jamlock, but you are advocating raising tuition? To what purpose? That money will not go to better teachers, it might grant a few raises and maybe hire a few more grad assistants but in the end, the students will not get their money’s worth.
More money to the government is never the answer. In this specific case, costs have skyrocketed and nobody can explain why. That is as far from a case of giving them more money as you can be.
College Prof
November 17th, 2009
6:03 pm
It’s really easy to criticize the Regents for this decision, but some of the criticisms just show the posters’ ignorance than anything else. My son attends a state college, and his bill does clearly indicate what each fee is for – such as science lab, technology, etc. The decisions to build new buildings are made years ahead – it’s not like those colleges decided to build new buildings because the economy is bad. Also, parking decks? Well, I suppose universities and colleges can collect more money by issuing parking citations.
Oh well…
coachsjax
November 17th, 2009
6:05 pm
jamlock, who peed in your corn flakes? It’s immeasurable what an education is worth. But there has been so many ambitious decisions made that were unnecessary waisting so much money that could have been used to ofset past and current college costs. What’s wrong with trying to offer an inexpensive education to college students
Robert M
November 17th, 2009
6:21 pm
Couple of clarifications…
Fees paid by HOPE were capped in 2004(?) so all the additional increases are paid by the student. HOPE is tied to tuition so as tuition grows, so do HOPE expenditures. And tuition HAS increased. In the past 10 years, tuition at UGA rose by over $2,000. Check SREB data for more info
To the USG faculty…how many hours a week do you work? This is my biggest gripe with higher education. Most professors don’t work ANYwhere near 40 hours a week. Staff do.
The problem with Regents is that they have Constitutional authority so no one can do much about it. The Governor doesn’t have to agree. The General Assembly doesn’t have to agree. That is why they get away with this.
Lamar Alexander recently wrote a piece for Newsweek that made my jaw hit the ground. The quote that stood out to me in the article was that state higher ed funding rose 17.6% while tuition rose 63.4% over the same time period. Tuition and costs are out of control. I personally think the tuition increases should be tied to some type of economic (GDP) or performance (enrollment increase) measure. Unfortunately, it is an arbitrary percentage or a backed into number.
Regents had to furlough…sigh….maybe they are mortal after all. Interestingly enough, where is the talk about the impact of budget reductions. How many people were actually laid off? How did they reduce expenses? They didn’t…they raised fees. Across this state, we have campuses across the street from one another. We have TOO many Universities. Why isn’t Regents talking about consolidating?
It saddens me that they can’t handle their own budget without balancing it on the backs of their students.
coachsjax
November 17th, 2009
7:19 pm
Hay College Prof, where’ve you been? Go to your schools accounting office and ask to see what the receipts have been from parking citations. Your jaw will be down there with Robert M’s. West Georgia parking lots look like a religious attack on a Walmart parking lot, tickets all over the cars. Big money is collected by the departments of safety. Where does that money go? It becomes another expense for the college student.
Maureen Downey
November 17th, 2009
8:12 pm
ihorizon, Regents can’t be fired by the public. They are appointed by the governor, usually by virtue of generous donations to campaigns.
Maureen
Gail
November 17th, 2009
8:24 pm
Jamlock …wrong.. don’t know where you’re getting your info but I know first hand that UGA’s tuition increased 25% this year from last year. I call that pretty significant considering that the inflation rate was non-existent.
2008-09 in state tuition $2,428 Mandatory Fees $587+ the $100 institutional fee.
2009-10 in state tuition $3,035.Mandatory fees 2009-10 $630 + the $100 (now $200) institutional fee
Also, after just 3 years into the program, this past spring, the Board of Regents discontinued the Fixed Fixed for Four Tuition Program.
I know an extra $100 isn’t really that much but when will it stop? President Adams needs to try a “staycation” this summer!!
$100 X around 30, 000 UGA students is $3 million per semester.
Gail
November 17th, 2009
8:28 pm
Those UGA tuition rates Ilisted are per semester.
College Prof
November 17th, 2009
8:55 pm
coachsjax,
If you have the information, why don’t you share with us all.
Robert M.
College professors do work more than 40 hours. You just think their “work” is done only when they are with their students – kinda like thinking K-12 teachers work only 6 hours a day. Depending on the nature of the institution, college professors are expected to spend 40-70% of their time in teaching, 10-60% doing research, and maybe 5% for institutional services. They aren’t hired just to teach classes.
Also, at schools with graduate programs, particularly doctorates, important “teaching” includes guiding graduate students through their dissertation, which isn’t often counted as a part of professor’s teaching load. College professors also spend quite a bit of time advising students. When they have 30 students to advise, they can take up quite a bit of professors’ time.
So, just because what you see is limited, don’t think college professors don’t work.
catlady,
Whether graduate students are foreign or domestic, if they are getting assitantship, they are getting tuition waiver in general. So, singling out “foreign” graduate students, you are showing a rather ignorant and almost discriminatory side of yourself. Furthermore, those graduate TAs provide a rather cheap labor force for the universities, too. If you replace them with other adjunct faculty or even full time lecturers, the costs will be much more.
As I explained to Robert M., professors’ contract includes more than just teaching. There are some who have higher teaching load because that’s how their contract is written. But, all of us ARE already working to the maximum of what our teaching load is supposed to be in our contract.
By the way, what amenities are you talking about?
Lynn
November 17th, 2009
9:19 pm
Gail has it right. With fees at $700 plus for next semester at UGA and incredibly expensive “new” books updated yearly by professors who get publishing royalites for each new edition and you have rising costs that are hard for students to pay.
College Prof
November 17th, 2009
10:24 pm
Lynn,
Can you tell us what percents of professors are actually textbook authors? You accuse us of somehow getting monetary kickbacks for changing textbooks to profit ourselves, but as far as I know none of my colleagues in my department uses textbooks s/he has written – actually, i don’t think any of us has actually written a book, either. Stop throwing these unfounded ridiculous accusation to people you have no idea what they do.
Kim
November 17th, 2009
11:13 pm
It’s not just an extra $100, it’s an extra $100 on top of all of the other existing fees. In the case of a part-time student, the fees can be more than the actual tuition. The fees (along with poor class availability at Kennesaw U) actually caused me to suspend my education. It simply isn’t cost effective to attend part time and it’s cost and time prohibitive to attend full time if you’re supporting a family. Shame on them.
Angela
November 17th, 2009
11:40 pm
ok, I pay for my low grade Georgia brand higher education out of pocket. I don’t qualify for financial aid, and I do not wish to accrue any debt. On that note, I would rather just know that there was a tuition increase instead of a petty “fee”; at least that would sound more credible.
Mr Professor—although I admire the fact that you have (i assume) achieved your Ph.D, academia is a field that you CHOSE to pursue, therefore, (I assume) that you knew what your job as a college professor would entail. So, when you post about how much “work” a professor has to do outside of their job to justify the little pay, well, you may not realize it, but it sure seems like you are complaining a bit. Please….there are other jobs out there that pay alot more for alot less work. The choice is yours.
Lastly, it does seem like a coincidence that universities have a shortage of classes each semester. So now a 4 year education takes 5 years? I have to extend my graduation date a semester for ONE CLASS, and hope that it will actually be offered. It has been canceled the last two semesters. Students like me will keep paying and wasting time, until they finally get a clue and finish up elsewhere…lol
poor Georgia. The education system here is really in dire straits K-higher ed……
Gail
November 18th, 2009
12:37 am
College Prof- do you teach at UGA? That is what Lynn is referring. At UGA they change textbooks almost yearly and some classes have specific UGA versions of the books. This makes students have to buy new books usually at $100+ (this past year the newest version of a required business class was almost $200)
So while you may not have written any books, at UGA many of the books used are written or edited by UGA faulty and staff. (often the department head) And I agree with Lynn that it seems the only reason a class requires a new version of a textbook is so that the department head can sell the newest version.