Georgia public college officials present $2.4 billion wish list

University System of Georgia officials presented a $2.4 billion budget wish list Tuesday to its Board of Regents it hopes will be approved by Gov. Nathan Deal and the state Legislature next year.

The budget request is about $120 million more than its current budget, $2.3 billion. About $110 million of the proposed increase would go to the Teachers’ Retirement System and for projected enrollment increases. A record 321,000 students were enrolled last school year in the system.

Last year, the system made a similar funding request and its budget increased by a slightly larger amount.

System officials also introduced a proposed $380 million capital funding request. Some projects in the capital list include a Center for Engineering and Research at Georgia Southern University, a College of Science and Math Building and campus infrastructure at Augusta University and Academic Learning Center at Kennesaw State University.

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