VALDOSTA — Incoming freshmen at Peach State colleges and universities will not be guaranteed a constant tuition rate during their time within the University System of Georgia.

With the approval of the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, members of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia declared that, starting with the Fall 2009 semester, all incoming freshmen will pay tuition at the same per-credit-hour rate charged in Fall 2008, but they will be subject to future tuition increases. In the past, tuition was frozen over the course of a student’s four years or so in school.

The tuition declaration comes as the University System of Georgia scrambles to fill holes left by millions of dollars in budget cuts made at the state level.

The tuition for incoming freshman this year at Valdosta State University will remain at $134 per credit hour, the rate set in the fall of 2008, said Traycee Martin, interim vice president for Finance and Administration.

However, incoming freshmen and students not on a guaranteed rate plan will now have to pay a little extra for all additional credit hours beyond what is considered a normal full load, said Martin.

“In the past, USG institutions didn’t charge anything for credit hours over 12. So, even if a student took 15 or 20 hours, they paid the same as a student taking 12 credit hours,” Martin said.

Students will pay a flat rate for the first 15 hours taken and pay an additional $134 for each credit hour thereafter.

Students who enrolled prior to the start of the guaranteed tuition plan in Fall 2006, or who came off the guarantee this fall, will pay the Fall 2008 per credit hour rate.

A student qualifies for a guaranteed rate plan the year they entered a University System of Georgia institution, Martin said.

The fees related to additional credit hours will be offset by the Pell Grant and HOPE Scholarship if a student is eligible for those funds, she said.

The increase in revenues is expected to offset less than a quarter of the budget reductions to date, Martin said.

Fall 2009 freshmen tuition rates were frozen at Kennesaw State University, Georgia Southern University, University of West Georgia and VSU at $134 per credit hour. At Georgia College and State University, rates were frozen at $190 per credit hour. Rates were frozen at $146 per credit hour at Southern Polytechnic State University.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia also approved a special institutional fee each semester of $100 at the research universities, as well as at Georgia Southern University, VSU, Georgia College and State University, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University and University of West Georgia. A fee of $75 was set at the other state universities, $50 at the state and two-year colleges.

The Fiscal Year 2010 budget was approved for $2.17 billion and includes federal stimulus funds of $92.6 million. The state appropriations include additions of $147.9 million and reductions of $275.5 million for a net reduction over the Fiscal Year 2009 base budget of $127.7 million.

A fee schedule for VSU can be found at www.valdosta.edu/finadmin/financial/documents/Fall2009-EnteringFall08.pdf.