Rome, GA - The state board that oversees the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) today approved a $385.7 million state budget request for Fiscal Year 2009.  The board also approved a $5 per credit hour increase in student tuition effective Winter Quarter 2008. 

The board’s action came during its monthly meeting, which was held at Coosa Valley Technical College in Rome.

Georgia’s technical college tuition has been and will continue to be one of the lowest among the southern states.  Beginning Winter Quarter 2008, the new increase, the first in two years, will raise the annual cost from $1,488 to $1,728 for a full-time student.   

Carl Swearingen, the chairman of the TCSG state board, said that there’s reward in the long-term.  “We’re keeping our tuition affordable and our education valuable, especially given that our technical college graduates are in high demand and many enter the workforce making $40,000 a year or more.”

Last year, the 33 colleges that make up the TCSG enrolled 147,852 students. More than 80% of those students received financial aid, mostly in the form of state HOPE and federal Pell grants.

A quality education from a Georgia technical college remains a relative bargain. According to data from the Southern Regional Education Board, Georgia’s technical college tuition was the second-lowest among its 16 member states in 2006. 

TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson said that the board’s decision to raise tuition was necessary given the rising education costs associated with maintaining the technical edge that’s critical to keeping Georgia competitive in the global marketplace. 

“It’s increasingly more expensive to educate and train in strategic industries like healthcare, aerospace and life sciences,” said Jackson.  “It’s essential that we keep pace because a highly-educated and technically-skilled workforce is the heart and soul of Georgia’s economic future.”

# # #