ATLANTA — The cost of an education at Georgia's 29 public colleges won't be going up this fall.

The Board of Regents has announced that it has decided not to increase tuition for the 2016-17 school year.

Hank Huckaby, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, said the decision shows the board is "listening to students, their families and legislators" who have voiced concerns about year-over-year tuition hikes in Georgia.

Until this year, the Board of Regents had approved some form of tuition increase every year since at least 2002.

Last year, most state-operated colleges in Georgia saw a 2.5-percent tuition increase for the fourth year in a row. Students at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia received even greater increases of 9 percent.