King points out that the Board of Regents is out of compliance with state law by allowing illegal alien students to attend University System colleges. One other thing should be pointed out. Student tuition, whether in-state or out-of-state, is only a small portion of what a "seat" in a Georgia college costs taxpayers. It is a widely held misconception that tuition alone pays for college costs. In fact, tuition covers only about one quarter to one third of the total cost for a full-time student.
Colleges receive their funding from state taxpayers based on a formula. The formula requires taking the total number of semester credit hours registered for in a given semester and dividing that by the number of credit hours which constitute a "full load" of coursework. This yields the aggregate number of "full-time equivalent" students enrolled at a given institution. The state then funds these colleges based on their "FTE" count. The total price tag for one full-time college student is therefore a combination of FTE funding and student tuition, with the taxpayer picking up the heavy end of that log.
A "seat" for a full time college student is a costly thing in Georgia and tuition is the tip of the iceberg. It would be interesting to see what the actual cost to taxpayers is for illegal aliens to attend Kennesaw State University, UGA, Georgia State and other institutions.
Bill Cheek
Marietta
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Where are our fiscally conservative representatives? Judson Hill? Chip Rogers? You should be able to get this information with just one phone call.