DAHLONEGA — University System of Georgia officials said Tuesday they’re considering several options, including a tuition hike, to help fill a budget hole after state lawmakers unexpectedly cut its funding for the next fiscal year.
The Georgia Board of Regents typically makes tuition decisions at its April meeting but plans to wait until May to consider potential tuition and fee increases for the state’s 26 public colleges.
Officials said that will give them several more weeks to review revenue options, which also could include strategically allocating state funds to schools most in need and dipping into a portion of “carry forward” funds left over in college budgets.
The delay comes after lawmakers, on the final day of the legislative session last month, trimmed $66 million from the University System for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The state budget now awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.
“It was an unexpected cut,” the system’s chief fiscal officer, Tracey Cook, told the board during a meeting in Dahlonega at the University of North Georgia. “And so this is why we are recommending that we pause and bring those recommendations to you in the month of May.”
Chancellor Sonny Perdue pushed back at legislators who have said the cut can be absorbed by dipping into roughly $504 million in “carry forward” funds that have accumulated over the years at colleges.
“Unfortunately in the Legislature this year, there was a good bit of misinformation, whether it was intentional or unintentional, regarding carry-forward funding,” Perdue said.
The University System said the bulk of that money is concentrated at just six schools and can’t be moved around. Officials said the funds can help in emergencies, but much of it is committed to research, faculty recruitment and other investments.
The state decrease comes as most schools face funding reductions because of falling enrollment. Last fall, University System enrollment fell by 1.8%, or 6,179 students, the second straight year of declining numbers. Only eight schools gained enrollment compared to fall 2021 numbers. Smaller, regional colleges struggled the most.
Declining enrollment has continued this spring semester. Numbers released Tuesday showed a drop of 0.9%, or 2,834 students, from spring 2022. This semester, 15 schools have enrollment declines compared to last spring, while 11 schools have more students.
Clayton State University saw the largest spring decline, falling 11.7% compared to the prior year. The biggest increase occurred at Gordon State College, which grew by 7.8% over last spring.
University System officials did not say how big potential tuition increases could be.
Cook noted the system did not raise tuition in five of the past seven years. Since 2016, the average annual tuition increase across the system has been 0.72%, “far less than the rate of inflation,” she said.
The Legislature attempted to control how the University System responded to the budget pressures by passing a bill in the final moments of the 2023 legislative session to require its approval before tuition or fees could be raised by more than 3%.
Kemp vetoed the measure two weeks ago, saying the state constitution gives the Board of Regents the authority to govern and manage the system.
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