With the state budget deficit continuing to rise and with no solution in sight, students at the University of Wisconsin can expect a tuition increase for the 2003-04 academic school year.
After UW’s state funding was cut by $44 million, in-state tuition was raised 9.6 percent and out-of-state tuition was raised 12.7 percent earlier this year.
“I really hope they won’t drive out-of-state tuition any higher than what it is right now,” said UW chancellor John Wiley.
Despite the university’s efforts to streamline the system, the extra students UW enrolls are putting a strain on the system. That strain, UW administration says, cannot be supported much longer.
The UW System currently enrolls 2,400 more students than projections had indicated. Wiley said UW students receive $1,800 less in funding than their Big 10 counterparts.
Wiley also said if a tuition increase were to take place, he would rather see it on in-state tuition.
“Our in-state tuition is now the lowest in the Big Ten. I suspect that the Legislature will give us a cut in spending. I don’t know how much, and I suspect that will be partially offset with tuition increases. As we have no latitude on out-of-state tuition, I would rather see it on in-state tuition,” Wiley said.
With rising tuition, Wiley said there are a number of issues that worry him, but said he is confident the university will overcome the increases as it has in the past.
“I worry about access, I worry about accountability, and so far with every tuition increase for out-of-state and in-state [tuition], we have managed to provide enough additional scholarship money to provide more than the increase in new scholarships to all the students who meet the federal needs standards,” he said.
Regent Jay Smith previously said the university must look beyond the state for additional funding.
“The state is not the only source of revenue,” Smith said. “We must work better with the other sources of revenue. If we don’t, then we’ll have to reduce enrollment.”
In 2000, then-governor Tommy Thompson froze in-state tuition while raising out-of-state tuition by 8.6 percent.
Of the large public institutions in the Midwest, the UW System has experienced the most massive cuts in state funding dating back to 1989. UW also accounted for 23 percent of direct cuts in Gov. Scott McCallum’s budget repair bill, while the System only accounts for 9 percent of the entire state budget.
UW System President Kathleen Lyall has urged the state to take into consideration the System’s rising enrollments and dwindling funding and to make a conscious decision that will benefit the System.
