The University of Wisconsin System hopes to see an influx of out-of-state students after the Board of Regents authorized a $2,000 reduction in nonresident undergraduate tuition at most UW campuses Friday.
Regent Charles Pruitt stressed that the tuition decrease, which will not affect UW-Madison, benefits resident and nonresident students alike and should improve the overall quality of the system.
"No Wisconsin resident student will be displaced by the addition of a nonresident student," Pruitt said. "In fact, adding nonresidents provides increased revenue for our campuses and has the potential, at least, to increase the number of positions available for resident students."
The UW System has seen a dramatic reduction in non-resident students over the past five years and, according to Friday's resolution, that is largely a result of the 5 percent annual tuition surcharges that were mandated by the state during the 2001-03 biennium.
Also according to the resolution, UW campuses have seen a reduction of more than 900 nonresident students since 2001-02, with price likely playing a significant role.
Perhaps most notably, the resolution states that non-resident tuition at UW-Milwaukee is $3,138 above its peer midpoint, and the UW comprehensive universities' non-resident tuition is $2,592 above their peer midpoint.
According to Pruitt, the reduction decreases the non-resident tuition to a level that would cover the full cost of educating a student, while also providing the equivalent of the average state support for an in-state student.
"I personally tried to poke holes in this as best I could," Regent Thomas Loftus, who voted in favor of the resolution, said. "[But] it is clear once you take away Madison and the special students at Platteville that the University of Wisconsin System has a kind of homogenous … student body."
The reduction was not without opposition on the board, however.
Regent Gerard Randall voted against the tuition adjustment, citing his preference for a more "targeted" response. Randall suggested a more successful method would be to offer the reduction on a financial aid basis or to non-residents who remain in Wisconsin after graduation.
"I'm no fan of high tuition," Randall said. "But after [Thursday's] conversation, I'm not convinced that this action … alleviates the problem of declining enrollment for out-of-state students."
The tuition reduction also drew the ire of some in the Legislature, including Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield.
"I think it's a mistake in the sense that … you need to put Wisconsinites first," Kanavas said. "My argument has always been that we need to be attractive to in-state residents and make it easier for middle-class residents to afford an education, and that's not the case."
UW System Executive Senior Vice President Don Mash spoke passionately about the wisdom behind the reduction, however, and urged the regents to approve the resolution.
"Even at a reduced rate, out-of-state students are paying more than 100 percent of the cost of their education," Mash said. "The residual is income to our campuses and that residual enables us to grow our financial capacity … so that we can enroll more in-state students with that financial support."
Although some regents predicted an uphill battle in convincing their stakeholders of the reduction's practicality, the resolution passed by a vote of 14-1.
"There is no downside to this," Mash continued. "When all the dust settles, we've done something that's important. It's going to be helpful, and we've done the right thing."
The regents opted not to include UW-Madison in the resolution because the current nonresident tuition rate has not been a significant enough obstacle in attracting students from outside the state.
"We're very aggressively trying to reach a goal of … 25 percent nonresidents consistent with regent policy," UW-Madison Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell said. "We think we can do that with the current tuition structure."
