Georgia Doing Decent Job of Controlling Higher Education Costs ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - President Obama spent much of last week talking about controlling the cost of college tuition.

But what's behind the rapid rise?

Big tuition hikes come when legislatures slow their funding of colleges and universities, says Joe Marks. He's director of Education Data Services at the Southern Regional Education Board.

"Public colleges and universities find they're getting diminished growth in resources from the state."

But, Marks says, Georgia's public colleges are doing a decent job of controlling increases.

For two decades, the University System of Georgia has seen annual tuition increases between four and six percent, although in 2011, it jumped 16.5%.

"I think we are going to begin to see a slowdown," says Cheryl Blanco, also with the SREB. She says the increases should slow, as colleges are controling costs by embracing technology and ensuring students have access to classes they need to graduate on time.
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