A $230 million budget for the University System of Georgia means students won't see higher tuition rates for the third year in a row. Some might notice another significant change.
The Board of Regents for the USG, the body that oversees decision making for public higher education, decided last night to eliminate the special institutional fee, which ranges from $170 to $544 a semester. At the University of Georgia, the fee was $450 per semester.
The special institutional fee has been in place since 2009, to “provide financial support” during a lack in state funding due to the recession. Though it was supposed to be temporary, that money was most recently used for “programs, activities and operations” that fall under a general funding bucket, according to UGA.
Union organizers across the state have protested the existence of the fee for a number of years.
