For the second straight year and the fourth time in the last six years, there will be no tuition increase for students attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for the 2021-22 academic year.

ABAC President David Bridges applauded the decision by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) on Tuesday.

“On behalf of our students and their parents, I want to say thank you to the members of the Board for taking this stance during a year when the pandemic has turned our entire world upside down,” Bridges, the longest serving president among the 26 colleges and universities in the USG, said.  “ABAC has always prided itself on offering a life-changing education at a reasonable cost.  We will continue to do that.”

The Board also voted to approve a recommendation of no increases to any mandatory fees for the 2021-2022 academic year. 

“The USG over the past several years has remained committed to making public higher education as affordable as possible for students and their families, while maintaining results that rank our campuses among some of the best in the nation,” USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley said.

“We are grateful for the support of the Board and state leaders toward this priority and recognize students’ hard work especially over the past year to maintain success toward graduating and entering Georgia’s workforce with college degrees.”

With the Board’s action, the University System has limited tuition increases among its institutions to an average 0.75 per cent annually since 2016, well below the rate of inflation. The USG now also has the third lowest median in-state tuition and fees for undergraduates at four-year institutions among the 16 states that make up the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). 

Tuition for an in-state student at ABAC taking up to 15 credit hours is $1,602 per semester.  Out-of-state students pay $5,918 per semester.

During the 2020 fall term, ABAC enrolled 3,990 students from 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties, 19 states, and 24 countries.  Fifty-three of Florida’s 67 counties were also represented in the enrollment, which was the second highest overall enrollment in the 113-year history of ABAC.

Classes for the ABAC fall semester begin Aug. 11.