Tuition Freeze to Help Decrease Rising Student Loan Debt in Georgia
by Kayla Jarrett
A new bill passed by the Georgia Legislature will make it unlawful for public four-year colleges in Georgia to increase tuition, student fees, or online courses more than the rate of inflation starting Fall semester 2017.
Tuition at all 30 public colleges and universities increased in the 2015–2016 academic school year. Increases were 9 percent at two of the largest schools, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, and 2.5 percent at 20 other schools in the University System. Rates at the remaining eight institutions are up between 3 percent and 9 percent.
Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City), the initiator of the bill, believes that most families can handle 2 to 3 percent increases and plan accordingly. “But when you’re getting increases of 8, 9, 10 percent you can’t plan for that.”
Recently, there has been a move to take action against the issue of student loan debt. Under the supervision of Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York has implemented a tuition free scholarship for state residents.
“Today, college is what high school was — it should always be an option even if you can’t afford it,” says Gov. Cuomo. “This scholarship program shows the difference that the government can make.”
Georgia is also jumping on board to tackle the debilitating issue of student loan debt and the abnormal rise of tuition. Some state lawmakers began to question the years of tuition hikes in the University System, causing the Board of Regents to realize that something needed to change.
Many college students are faced with the harsh reality of student loan debt. When colleges increase tuition and student fees, it forces students to take on more debt. The student loan debt in the United States is in the trillions; it is more than credit card and auto loan debt combined.
For Georgia students, tuition costs have been continually on the rise. Nearly 1.5 million Georgians owe an average of slightly more than $30,000 in federal student debt — the highest of the nation’s 50 states and trailing only Washington, D.C., according to data released by the White House.
Over the last decade, student debt has increasingly become a major issue. In the 2016 presidential race, it was a common topic of debate among candidates. Some candidates framed the issue as a strain on the economy, and pushed for debt-free college as a way to ease the burden.
Education is a necessity in modern society, and attending college is becoming increasingly harder for the average American. The tuition freeze will help many students across Georgia handle the ridiculous price of college. Some college alum wish the freeze would have been implemented sooner.
“It would definitely have made a huge difference for me,” says Georgia Tech alumni Preston Kagiri. “By the time I was done, tuition was about $5,000 more a year than when I started.”
Georgia Southern alumni, Alaina Johnson, says that an increase in tuition made her financial aid inconsistent. “My financial aid wouldn’t have fluctuated if my tuition didn’t change. My [refund] was typically $400-$600, but in my last two years, I only received like $50 back.”
More and more students in Georgia are choosing to “stay home” for college instead of attending their dream schools. Some students are even faced with the humiliation of having to return home after no longer being able to afford the costs of the school they are attending.
For Columbus High School senior Caitleigh Hammer, the dream ended before it even began. Hammer had plans to attend Georgia Southern for Fall 2017 and had already chosen her classes and roommates. They even begun to refer to each other as “froomies”, future roomies. But after her financial aid was finalized, Hammer was shocked and forced to back out from attending.
“They want $24,000 by the first day of classes. I just can’t do that.”
For Hammer, staying home will mean attending Columbus State. In the long run, this may be a good choice in order to avoid racking up a ton of student debt.
Tuition and fees for a full time student at Columbus State is $2,090 versus $11,634 at the University of Georgia, $5,343 at Georgia State University, and $3,663 at Kennesaw State University to name a few.
Columbus State has proven to be among one of the cheaper schools in the state. Many CSU students and alum report noticing a slight to no increase in tuition during their time spent there.
CSU alum Alexis Jarod says an influx in tuition was “maybe a couple hundred dollars” and “wasn’t even noticeable.”
“CSU has always remained pretty affordable,” says Jarod.
Ramsey said many states have some kind of tuition limits and said it’s no coincidence there are so many bills filed each year in Georgia to boost revenue for the HOPE scholarships. Those scholarships are funded by the state lottery but the grants no longer cover the full cost of tuition for most students.
“We have to look at the growth in cost itself,” Ramsey said. “Student debt is crushing kids.”
