In-state undergraduate students at Georgia's 27 public colleges will now have to pay an additional $32 to $83 in tuition per semester, beginning next fall.

The Board of Regents has increased the tuition by 2.5 percent, the lowest since 2002. As a result, the overall tuition comes up to $270 per semester at University of North Georgia, University System of Georgia, Georgia Southern University, Dalton State University and Armstrong Atlantic State University among others.

On the other hand, students at four research universities are bearing the burden as their tuition is being raised to the maximum.

- In-state undergraduates' tuition at Georgia Tech will be increased by $270 or 7 percent per semester.

- University of Georgia undergrad tuition will cost extra $191 per semester, a 5 percent hike.

- Georgia State University in Atlanta and Georgia Regents University in Augusta will raise undergraduate tuition by 3.5 percent or $131 per semester.

The regents decided to increase the tuition despite receiving an additional $54.6 million in funding from the Legislature for the next academic year.

Chancellor Hank Huckaby said that the system was forced to shift the burden on students to pay for higher health care premiums for employees and to compensate for $1.4 billion in budget cuts in the past five years.

"We worked very hard to keep it at affordable levels," Huckaby said. "But we're nowhere close to where we were being funded five years ago."

In their defense, the University system officials allege that despite tuition raises, the average tuition cost in Georgia remains low when compared to neighboring southern states such as Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina.

The Board of Regents also increased mandatory students' fees in 16 colleges such as health fee by $6 for Georgia Tech students and $53 in new recreation and athletic fees for Dalton State College. Chanel Riggins, a freshman nursing student at Armstrong Atlantic State University, said even slight tuition increases can affect many families in the country.

Next fall, Riggins' tuition will be hiked by $56 per semester to $2,312, and she'll be asked to pay extra $27 in mandatory health and student center fees.