In response to depleted state funds and the threat of cutting enrollment and staff, in July the Board of Regents approved tuition increases of up to 18.7 percent within the University of Wisconsin System.

The new budget plans, which were first introduced last spring, go hand-in-hand with the largest-ever reduction in funding for the UW System. Students at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee will pay $350 more each semester, bringing the annual Madison total to $4,554. Tuition increases for nonresident students are at the same dollar level as that of resident students, bringing out-of-state tuition up to $18,554.

Students at other schools in the system will pay $250 more each semester. In addition to these increases, residence-hall dues have gone up an average of $200, bringing the annual average room-and-board cost to $4,113.

“Without the tuition revenue to cushion the cut in state spending, the impact on the UW System and its students would be far worse than it is now,” UW System spokesman Erik Christianson said.

Board of Regents president Toby Marcovich described the increases as “unfortunate but necessary” and agreed that the “alternatives were worse.”

Stephanie Hilton, academic-affairs director for United Council, feels differently about the matter.

“Ultimately, I don’t think it was very fair to pass the buck along to students. There were other parts of the state budget that could have suffered more,” she said. “We’re increasing tuition much faster than we should be.”

According to Hilton, a mentality exists within the state that higher education can handle such cuts year after year, and this mindset has continually wounded the university system.

“We need to curb that mentality. That’s what is really killing us: thinking we’re expendable,” she said. “If you keep chipping away, it won’t be as good as what it was before.”

Indeed, under the new budget plans, many areas of the UW System have been hit, with 645 state-funded positions facing imminent elimination. Such job cuts, which will hit faculty and student support staff, mean a reduced course selection, fewer professors, larger classes and fewer library and technological resources.

“Unfortunately, students are paying more for less. The $100 million cut for the UW System is limiting teaching, research and public service at every UW campus,” Christianson said. “The revenue from the tuition increase is being used to balance the state budget, not increase the university’s budget.”

He added that areas outside of the academic realm, such as administration, took a larger chunk of the cuts than did instructional jobs.

Despite such figures, Marcovich notes that students have been given a $23 million increase in financial aid.

“I believe that the neediest of the students will get aid close or equal to tuition costs,” he said.

But such aid will come from auxiliary reserves, funds derived from residence-hall, dining-hall, bookstore and parking revenues — not from the state. Hilton said this situation will create a structural deficit that will set the university budget behind another $23 million next year.

Hilton also expressed concern that this financial-aid plan will price out middle-income students who do not qualify for loans and yet do not have a high enough income to meet tuition demands.