This is a column by Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a Libertarian-leaning policy think tank based in Atlanta.
College students in Georgia got good news this past week, as the Board of Regents froze tuition and fees at the state’s public colleges and universities for the second year in a row. The news also helps explain why a popular national narrative about college costs and student debt is so wrong-headed.
The regents’ decision means in-state tuition and fees for a semester at the state’s most expensive public college, Georgia Tech, will remain $6,426. That’s just under $13,000 for a traditional, two-semester academic year, or about $51,000 for four years. Room, board, textbooks and other expenses are not included.