ATLANTA (AP)- Georgia colleges are bracing themselves for even
steeper cuts.

The state Board of Regents will meet in a specially called session Wednesday to vote on slashing college budgets, increasing health care costs to employees and hiking student fees.

According to the meeting agenda, the board will be asked to approve 8 percent reductions for the current fiscal year. That's up from the 6 percent cuts the board already OK'd at the request of Gov. Sonny Perdue's budget office.

The Regents will also vote on reducing employer contributions to health care plans from 75 percent to 70 percent. And students may have to pay a temporary fee of up to $100 to help fill the budget hole.

Like most state departments and agencies, the state's higher education system has been grappling with Georgia's worsening financial crisis.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)