ATLANTA -- The Georgia Board of Regents has announced a hike in both tuition and fees for Georgia's state colleges and universities during a meeting Tuesday.

"It's highly likely that tuition will have to increase to meet the needs of the students and to meet the student growth we have experienced," said Regents executive John Millsaps before the meeting.

The tuition hike comes close on the heels of a major overhual of the popular HOPE scholarship program which means students will be left to pay the rising costs of college in the state.

State representative Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, who played a major role in revamping the HOPE scholarship, says tough choices had to be made to keep the program afloat financially.

"Students are still getting one of the best values in the country," State Rep. Collins said. "We feel like we've done what we needed to do to keep a program solvent for future generations.