Wisconsinites enrolling at colleges and universities in Minnesota next year will no longer have the advantage of paying lower prices than Minnesotans for comparable education due to a new reciprocity agreement between the neighboring states.

The State of Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education agreed to a change in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Interstate Tuition Reciprocity Program, HEAB Administrative Policy Advisor Sherri Nelson said.

Cullen Werwie, spokesperson for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, said the new agreement allows Wisconsinites to attend an undergraduate or graduate program in their neighboring state for the price a native Minnesotan would pay.

The memorandum phases out the supplement agreement established by HEAB and MOHE during the 2008-09 school year in which the state of Wisconsin covered the financial difference of a Wisconsin resident paying in-state tuition at a Minnesota university with higher in-state tuition prices, Nelson said.

For the past three years, Nelson said Wisconsin universities have had lower in-state tuition than comparable Minnesota universities. Therefore, under the supplement agreement, Wisconsin students paid less to go to Minnesota universities than Minnesota students.

The financial difference created by this policy was paid for by the state of Wisconsin to the state of Minnesota, Nelson said. The supplement agreement was originally created by former Gov. Jim Doyle to prevent Wisconsin students from paying the difference.

A Minnesota student attending a university in Wisconsin will continue to pay the in-state tuition price of a comparable Minnesota university, Nelson said.

In creating the reciprocity agreement, Werwie said both states had to pass concurring legislation and sign a memorandum of understanding.

Additions to the memorandum had to be made after Wisconsin policymakers and constituents voiced concern that the new reciprocity agreement should not be set in place until the 2012-13 school year, Nelson said.

Despite the higher costs for Wisconsinites, Nelson said students attending a state university in their non-native state next year will still save on tuition.

“Even without the supplement agreement, reciprocity is a good deal,” Nelson said. “The program will still allow Wisconsin students to pay in-state tuition at a Minnesota university, but now they will cover the difference.”

Werwie said the new agreement will continue to allow Wisconsin students to attend Minnesota schools for less than they would otherwise.

“The new reciprocity agreement was passed to ensure Wisconsin residents continue to have affordable access to world class institutions like the [University of Minnesota] state schools,” Werwie said.