Tuition moves and loan caps

Public colleges are raising prices and rewriting budgets at the same time federal loan rules are tightening for graduate students. (usg.edu) In Georgia, the Board of Regents voted on April 14 to raise in-state undergraduate tuition 1% and out-of-state and out-of-country tuition 3% for 2026-27 across the University System of Georgia’s 25 campuses. The board also approved mandatory fee changes at 13 institutions, including reductions for in-person students at Kennesaw State University and Georgia Southern University. (usg.edu) University System of Georgia leaders said it was only the fourth tuition increase in 10 years and said average tuition growth for Georgia students has stayed below 1% over the decade. The system said the state once covered about 75% of instructional costs under the shared funding formula and now covers closer to 57%. (usg.edu) In Missouri, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted on April 14 to drop the House’s enrollment-based higher education formula and return to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s funding recommendation. That would keep colleges and universities at roughly last year’s state funding level, but the budget still has to clear the full Senate and then negotiations with the House. (stlpr.org) The House plan had created sharp swings between campuses. Under that version, the University of Missouri system could have gained as much as $20 million, while Truman State University faced about $27 million in cuts and Harris-Stowe State University about $5 million. (stlpr.org) Missouri’s budget squeeze has been building for months. The House passed a $50.3 billion operating budget on March 27, about $1.7 billion below Kehoe’s recommendation, as lawmakers said revenues were tightening after federal relief money ran out. (kcur.org) Missouri State University has been warning Jefferson City that flat support is not flat in practice. In its fiscal year 2027 budget priorities, the school said a higher state retirement contribution rate alone would add about $2.2 million in costs and said it would have to consider service cuts without more state funding. (missouristate.edu) Graduate students are facing a separate change from Washington. A 2025 budget law takes effect in July 2026, eliminates Grad PLUS loans, and replaces open-ended federal borrowing with annual and total caps. (urban.org) For master’s and academic doctoral programs, the new federal limit is $20,500 a year and $100,000 total; for professional programs such as medicine and law, it is $50,000 a year and $200,000 total. Urban Institute researchers said many graduate students borrowed above those levels in recent years, and The New York Times reported on April 15 that many students will now need private loans while some may be shut out altogether. (urban.org, nytimes.com) The result is a three-way pressure point heading into the 2026-27 school year: states are trying to hold down appropriations, campuses are looking at tuition and fee increases, and graduate students are losing access to the federal backstop that once let them borrow up to the full cost of attendance. (usg.edu, urban.org, stlpr.org)