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2009-10 Tuition Frequently Asked QuestionsApril 2009
GENERAL STATEMENT: DEFINITION OF FULL-TIME STUDENT
 The changes in the per credit hour tuition rate for new students in the University Systemof Georgia raise questions regarding at what point is a USG undergraduate studentconsidered as a full-time student for purposes of insurance, athletics, financial aid andsome other classifications. For purposes of financial aid, insurance, athletics, USGundergraduate students are considered full-time if they are enrolled in at least 12 credithours in any semester and are considered part time if enrolled in less than 12 credithours in any semester. The fact that students will be charged tuition for up to 15 credithours has no effect on full-time student classification for the purposes of financial aid,insurance or athletics.Pell students are on an hourly schedule based on tuition costs and normal and customaryliving expenses for the school's location. For example, students enrolled 1-5 hoursreceive less than 50 per cent of the Pell allotment, 6 hours receive 50 per cent, 7-8 hoursreceive more than 50 per cent, 9 hours receive 75 per cent and so on according to thePell Grant schedule until they reach 12 hours.
1)
Q:Is tuition increasing this fall?
A:If you are a student who enrolled in fall 2006, fall 2007 or fall 2008, you are under the GuaranteedTuition Plan, and will see no change or increase in your tuition this fall.If you are a freshman enrolling for the first time in fall 2009, your tuition has been frozen at the per credithour rate set last fall (fall 2008). So, while you will be paying tuition for the first time as a USG student,there is effectively no increase for your tuition. The decision was made in light of the tough economic timesand to help Georgia families.If you are a current USG student who enrolled prior to 2006, your tuition will be set at the fall 2008 rate(you will be paying the same tuition rate as fall 2009 freshmen). This will mean an increase of between 6and 12 percent above the rates you are currently paying.2)
Q:Is the Guaranteed Tuition Plan being discontinued?
A:For all students enrolling as freshmen this fall, they will not be under the Guaranteed Tuition Plan. Akey support for the Guaranteed Tuition Plan was continued strong state appropriations. The UniversitySystem’s budget has been reduced $275.6 million for the upcoming fiscal year. It is no longer possible to fixtuition for four years in these circumstances.3)
Q:What about those students already in the Guaranteed Tuition Plan? Does this mean that they program is being ended for them as well as new students?
A:A guarantee is just that – the Board of Regents is committed to providing the guarantee to thosestudents who previously enrolled under the Guaranteed Tuition Plan. Therefore, these students will see nochange in their tuition this fall.
 
USG Tuition FAQ – April 2009 page 2
4)
Q:Will the Board reinstate the Guaranteed Tuition Plan for future freshmen classes, say in fall 2010?
A:No one can speak for the Board in terms of what decisions they may make in the future. Andcertainly, future economic and other conditions are not known. While the plan certainly has provided greater stability in terms of budgeting year-to-year for students, an analysis of student course taking indicates thatthe plan has not had the desired effect of encouraging more students to take more classes and graduate withinfour years. When the progress-to-degree rate for the first class of students under the Guaranteed Tuition Plan(fall 2006) is compared to the class of fall 2005 (who are not covered by the guarantee), results are clear.Students under the guarantee are not taking any more credits than non-guarantee students. At the halfway point of the four years, only two of every 100 students with the guarantee are taking more classes in order tograduate within four years. It is clear that the guarantee has not appreciably changed student behavior. Thiswas one of the primary reasons for implementing the Guaranteed Tuition Plan. The failure to change student behavior, when coupled with a lack of continuing strong state support, makes the reinstatement of Guaranteed Tuition Plan in future years unlikely.5)
Q:What does this mean that you are charging a “per credit hour rate?” How will that affect mytuition?
A:Historically, tuition has always been charged at a per credit hour rate up to 12 credit hours. Therewas no additional charge for taking more hours. Given the current budget picture, it is difficult to maintainacademic quality and provide classes for free. At all institutions except Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia (UGA), students wishing to take more than 12 hours will pay for those hours (in addition to thestandard semester tuition) up to the 15 hours. Students attending Tech and UGA will be charged a flat ratefee: $1,800 per semester for 6 hours or less, and $3,035 per semester for more than 6 hours.6)
Q:So will students in the Guaranteed Tuition Plan now have to pay additional tuition if they take thethree credit hours above 12?
A:No, this new policy doesn’t affect students on the Guaranteed Tuition Plan. Students on theGuaranteed Tuition Plan will see no change in their tuition rate, regardless of the number of hours taken.That is part of the guarantee.7)
Q:Will the new per credit hour tuition rate apply to students who enrolled prior to fall 2006 and whoare not on the Guaranteed Tuition Plan?
A:Yes, any student not on the Guaranteed Tuition Plan will pay the per credit hour tuition rate (and atUGA and Tech, the flat tuition rate).8)
Q:What does it mean that students enrolled at Georgia Tech and UGA will pay a “flat tuition rate?”
A:In order to encourage students to take 15 hours a semester and to graduate in four years, the flattuition rate means that students at Tech and UGA (only) pay one rate: either $1,800 per semester for 6 hoursor less or $3,035 for more than 6 hours. Students who take more than 6 hours may choose to take fewer hours than 15, but they will still pay for 15 credit hours.9)
Q:So it is not true that freshmen at UGA and Tech will see their tuition frozen at the fall 2008 credit hour rate – they will be paying more than new students enrolled at those two institutions in fall 2008.
A:Fall 2009 freshmen at UGA and Tech will pay a flat rate that is calculated at a per credit hour rate of -- $203 -- the exact same credit hour rate as charged in fall 2008. The difference is that they will pay a flatrate based on 15 hours, instead of the per credit hour rate set at 12 hours.
 
USG Tuition FAQ – April 2009 page 3
10)
Q:Is there an institutional fee for student this fall?
A:Yes. All students will pay a special institutional fee in the upcoming academic year: $100 a semester at the research universities; $75 a semester at the regional and state universities, and $50 a semester at thestate and two-year colleges.11)
Q:I thought this was a temporary fee. Why is the fee being extended?
A:The fee was originally set in December 2008 for the spring 2009 semester. At that time it waslabeled as a temporary fee because, while the regents understood the economy was worsening and had beentold to plan for budget cuts, the Governor had not yet made his budget recommendations and the GeneralAssembly had not yet acted on those recommendations to set an amended budget for the current fiscal year or a new budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The temporary fee was part of the regent’s budget reduction plan. Now that the System’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget has been set and we have a much clearer picture of thestate’s declining revenues, the board has decided that a special institutional fee must be part of the overallstrategy to ensure access and academic excellence for students. This is not a fee that the regents want to putin place, but the times leave the board little choice. Otherwise, in order to ensure the academic quality, itwould have been necessary to place the entire financial burden on new students and those students enrolled prior to fall 2006, who are not part of the Guaranteed Tuition Plan. This would have been an unfair and veryexpensive burden, and the special fee spreads the cost equitably among all USG students.12)
Q:So is this new fee permanent?
A:We do not know what the economy and consequently, the state’s budget picture will look like for fiscal year 2011 and beyond. The special fee applies for the Fiscal Year 2010. Next year the board will makedecisions on tuition and fees based upon the budget adopted by the General Assembly. No one can say – or should predict – what options the regents will have and decisions they will take with respect to tuition andfees.13)
Q:So the institutional fee applies to students on the guaranteed tuition plan?
A:Yes, the fee applies to all students, including those in the Guaranteed Tuition Plan.14)
Q:Is the fee covered by HOPE?
A:No, HOPE does not cover fees approved by the regents after January 2004. This fee is not HOPEeligible.15)
Q:Last December, when the institutional fee was passed, there was concern expressed by studentsabout a lack of consultation. What, if any, input did students have on the new fee?
A:Students did voice their concerns last December and we listened. In February, at the StudentAdvisory Council Meeting, both Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Affairs Usha Ramachandran and Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. spoke at length with student leaders about the fee, the budget, and possible options for Fiscal Year 2010. Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Herbst spoke to student governmentassociations at both UGA and Georgia Tech. As recently as this week, USG presidents briefed studentleaders on the campuses regarding the options. And of course, the Chancellor and Ms. Ramachandran again briefed the Student Advisory Council before the Regents’ April board meeting. Those meetings, particularlyin February, allowed for significant student input. For example, student dissatisfaction with the GuaranteedTuition Plan was an important – though not the only – factor in the recommendation to end the program. Wehave listened closely. The decision to implement the new fee will not be endorsed by all, but the decisionreflects what, in the board’s consideration, is the most equitable solution to maintain academic quality in theface of extraordinary budget pressures.16)
Q.Will HOPE continue to cover my tuition? What about the flat tuition rate at Tech and UGA?
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