OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Fixed cost?

The Board of Regents is looking to increase tuition rates for those entering into or beyond their fifth year in an undergraduate program within the University System of Georgia. Tuition will be fixed for Tech freshmen for a guaranteed four-years, and then the student is subject to a dramatic tution hike upon entering their fifth year with the new system. The Board of Regents is currently ironing out details of the parameters of the fixed four-year system applicable to all in the University System.

The potential effects of a blanket tuition increase after the fourth year raises concerns. The Board of Regents should carefully consider the nature of each individual institution. At Tech many students commit to plans that require a minimum of five-years through co-op, dual degrees and rigorous undergrad programs. All of these students are putting in the effort and hard work toward achieving a degree. Other students who switch majors or encounter unforeseen events in their college career could potentially be forced to extend beyond an expected four-year completion. We would hope these type of students would be accomodated within the new system rather than penalized.

With these concerns and other considerations specific to Tech, hopefully the Regents will draft a policy that accomodates institute specific issues and allows flexibility. We value the already determined fixed rates, but the different major requirements should be respected. The fourth-year cap could be based around the HOPE hour cap revisions, where they considered hours and demands of major as a structure for exception rather than a strict one-size-fits-all system.

Still, there should not be so many exceptions that it would force the financial burden on future students as the fixed tuition policy averts tuition increase awareness among the current undergraduate student body by shifting it to unaware, prospective students.

The new system uses tuition increases beyond the fourth year as a tool to meet several goals within the University System. The Board of Regents is looking to increase four-year graduation rates to be more on par with national levels. Tuition increases at Tech, where the majority of graduating students take more than four years, could work against this goal by causing students who had no other option than to take longer to drop out because of the financial burden.

The policy does work towards meeting other goals, such as reducing over-capacity of facilities and allowing for better financial planning, but a flexible plan for increases after the fourth year is essential.