Georgia’s public colleges can no longer afford to let entering freshmen lock in a tuition rate for four years, the state Board of Regents decided today. The regents voted unanimously to suspend the policy indefinitely, as of this fall, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The regents, meeting in Atlanta to set the higher-education system’s budget for the fiscal year that begins in July, also approved a new formula that will allow full-time tuition to rise by 25 percent this fall. The basic rate, which varies at different colleges and universities, will remain unchanged, but full-time tuition will be figured on the basis of 15 credit hours instead of 12, The Red and Black, the student newspaper of the University of Georgia, reported.

Students already in the fixed-tuition program, adopted three years ago, will not be affected by either decision.

Colleges and universities in several other states offer similar fixed-tuition guarantees, but despite the potential long-term savings for students and their families, some institutions have found the plans tough to market, and others have found them too risky. Central Michigan University dropped its plan last summer, and Pace University abandoned its program in 2007. —Charles Huckabee