(The Center Square) – For the fifth straight year, the University of Wisconsin System will increase tuition for in-state undergraduate students.
The 2% hike was approved 15-1 by regents on Thursday. Last year’s increase was 5%.
The highest total of tuition and segregated fees in the system is at the flagship University of Wisconsin-Madison ($12,416).
The increase includes a 3.5% increase in segregated fees, which are for student services, activities, programs and facilities. In all, it would be a 2.5% average increase across tuition, segregated fees, and room and board.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly, also a regent, spoke in support of the increase, saying it was necessary because state funding for the system was not sufficient. The opinion is similar to what Underly has stated about K-12 school funding in the state.
Regent Timothy Nixon was the lone vote against the increase, stating that he would not support another increase unless all other options had been explored.
“We must be confident we have explored all options before putting it on the backs of the students,” Nixon said.
Regent Ashok Rai said he appreciated Nixon’s concerns but that hard decisions would still have to be made on each campus due to what he called a “modest increase” in tuition.
The increase has been the subject of criticism from several Republican leaders in the state including Congressman Tom Tiffany, a Republican running for governor. He said that he would freeze tuition in the UW System if elected.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett, previously pointed out that, over the past 10 years, the system has added 2,400 nonfaculty staff positions while educating 16,000 fewer students.
Wimberger said that, if the system would “eliminate their administrative bloat,” it would free up $750 million.
“UW’s leadership is continuing to pass its payroll expenses onto students and their families, when it should be cutting its massive bureaucracy and reinvesting its funds to create a more valuable student experience,” Wimberger said in a statement. “No amount of money will ever be enough for satisfy these bureaucrats, and the bright students who attend our universities are only left with a worse education.”
The new numbers for the rest of the campuses are: UW-Eau Claire ($10,268), UW-Green Bay ($9,133), UW-La Crosse ($10,563), UW-Milwaukee ($11,153), UW-Oshkosh ($9,180), UW-Parkside ($8,851), UW-Platteville ($9,007), UW-River Falls ($9,448), UW-Stevens Point ($9,692), UW-Stout ($10,289), UW-Superior ($9,477) and UW-Whitewater ($8,984).
