(The Center Square) – It will soon be more expensive to just apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Regents voted to increase the application fee from $70 to $80, starting in August, bringing questions from students while defending the action as a way to generate new money for outreach.
Madison student body president Landis Varughese questioned the price hike, saying colleges across the country are facing an “unprecedented moment.”
“Raising the application fee for UW-Madison at a time when the financial aid landscape across higher education remains fragile only poses serious barriers for prospective students,” he said in a statement.
But UW leaders defended the price hike.
The university said raising the application fee will bring-in new money that can be used “to make investments in recruitment and outreach, communications, data, and IT systems management areas.”
And it’s not a small amount of money.
UW-Madison expects to take-in more than $600,000 a-year with the new fee.
Interest in UW-Madison has only grown over the past few years, and nearly 80,000 students applied for next fall’s school year. Numbers from the UW show that’s up almost 12% from last fall and up 59% over the past five years.
UW-Madison set its application fee at $60 in 2016. The school then increased it to $70 in 2023.
At $80, UW-Madison’s application fee is in-line with other Big Ten universities, but it’s the most expensive application fee in the UW System.
In fact, 10 UW schools don’t charge any application fees at all. UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse both charge $25 fees.
The Madison application fee may not be the only new charge for students.
UW President Jay Rothman has said the university will likely have to raise tuition if lawmakers don’t give the UW an extra $855 million in the next state budget.
