Sofia Lipko is just four semesters away from a graduate degree in teaching at Georgia State University. But instead of finishing, she says, she may have to drop out.
Lipko can’t afford the hike in college costs the State Board of Regents approved last week. While a 3 percent increase in tuition and an additional $250 in fees may seem small, they are just the latest annual boost in the price of her education, and like many Georgia students, she is struggling to keep up.
She already works full-time. She dines on ramen noodles. She’s had to apply for more loans because there’s less grant and scholarship money available.
“The future is looking bleak. We are not guaranteed jobs; how are we going to pay for all this debt?” Lipko said. “Times are different than they were for generations past. Nothing is guaranteed, everything is precarious and costs are through the roof.”
The bigger checks Georgia students are being asked to write aren’t just for tuition. Depending on which campus they attend, they also will pay between $352 and $1,185 a semester in mandatory fees this fall; at some campuses, those fees will rise by more than 40 percent over fall 2010.