The Board of Regents unanimously approved a tuition increase for the next academic year at its meeting this week.
The regents raised tuition by 5.5 percent for the fourth year in a row for undergraduate residents at four-year universities.
This means an additional $638 in tuition for University of Wisconsin-Madison students next academic year, raising the total cost to $7,933 for in-state attendees, according to a report released by the regents.
Board President Charles Pruitt said the tuition increases were needed to make up for state budget cuts over the last two years.
The tuition increases are part of a larger plan to make up the deficits, including faculty furlough days and other administrative savings, Pruitt said, and were necessary to maintain quality on the campuses across the state.
“We really believe that in order to maintain the quality of the university at various campuses that we needed to have, what we would like to believe, is a modest tuition increase to cover at least some of the shortcomings of state dollars,” Pruitt said.
Students whose families make less than $60,000 and do not have other financial aid to offset the new tuition increases will not be affected by the tuition increase, according to UW System spokesperson David Giroux.
Giroux added the funds have been set aside by the state, and a student who is eligible will receive a grant for how much tuition will go up. So at UW a student would receive a grant for $638 for next year.
The UW-Colleges tuition will remain the same for the fourth year in a row.
According to Pruitt, the regents wanted to freeze the tuition at those schools to ensure those schools were still affordable for students whose families were facing economic hardships and might not be able to afford to attend the university.
Also at the meeting, the Competitive University Workforce Commission, which was comprised of business, political and academic leaders presented its final report on how UW System faculty, staff and administrators are being paid.
Pruitt said they found across the board, with few exceptions, UW System has fallen behind its peer universities across the country in how well their staffs are compensated.
“It’s important for students because obviously if we fall too far behind, or if we don’t do something to close that gap, we risk losing the best faculty and academic staff,” Pruitt said.
He added this was an issue the regents would look at when planning for their next budget.
A new textbook policy designed to help students find more affordable textbooks was also adopted at the meeting, according to Giroux.
The policy, which goes into effect July 1, states that textbooks must be listed on course catalogs when students are selecting classes so they can begin searching for the cheapest books right away, Giroux said.
Giroux added it also recommends professors try to avoid switching to newer versions until absolutely necessary, put greater emphasis on textbook rentals and encourages students to use other alternatives like book swaps to cut costs.
