A University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents committee approved the UW-Madison Business School differential tuition program Thursday, setting it up for a vote by the full board today.

Regent Chuck Pruitt, chair of the Business, Finance and Audit Committee, said his committee passed the business differential tuition program unanimously after hearing from Business School Dean Michael Knetter and UW undergraduate Eric Eickhoff, who chairs the UW chapter of Future Business Leaders of America.

Mark Browne, associate dean for undergraduate programs at the Business School, said the increase would amount to $1,000 per year and would be used to attract strong faculty and student services, such as academic and career advising.

"We feel if it passes [through the entire board], it will be very positive for the business school," Browne said. "It will allow us to meet the tremendous demand on this campus and have faculty that we would otherwise not be able to."

Browne said with the differential tuition program, UW-Madison will be one of the leading business schools in the world and added that, without the additional funding, the business program would be forced to become a much smaller school.

Despite the support of the program from members of the board and the business school, others are skeptical.

Lilia Williams, interim executive director of the United Council of UW Students, said the council is hesitant about the differential tuition program because they want to make sure it is not a substitute for the state reinvesting in higher education.

The second concern, Williams said, is the group wants to be sure student government for the entire campus is involved — not just the undergraduate business leadership council which, to her knowledge, was the only organization consulted.

"We do not want this to become a trend for students to increasingly pay for different programs," Williams said. "We need to be cognizant of public education. Students should not be thinking about what they can afford, but what programs they can excel and achieve in."

Williams added the council is not saying the board should vote down the tuition differential program, but they are urging the board to keep these issues in mind, especially the additional cost to students.

Pruitt said Knetter assured them the resources were available to give students increased scholarships and financial aid to pay for the tuition increase.

"We wanted to make sure students from lower and moderate incomes would likely have scholarships or financial aid to cover the increased cost," Pruitt said. "The dean indicated [the Business School's] interest and commitment to make the program affordable."

In addition, Pruitt said the extension of the campus-wide differential program at UW-Oshkosh and the implementation of a similar tuition program at UW-River Falls passed through his committee.

Pruitt said in both cases, these proposals seem to fulfill a need on the respective campuses and have the support of the students.

All three of the tuition differential programs have been passed on to the entire board for a vote today.

Other regents news

The Business, Finance and Audit Committee approved a contract between the UW-Madison Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and Learfield Communications.

Pruitt said based on a presentation by the UW Athletic Department, the contract gives Madison a similar package to what other Big Ten universities have received.

The new contract would provide marketing and multimedia privileges to athletic programming and extends the contract term for an additional 10 years to 2019 and is worth $2.04 million.

In addition, the Education Committee authorized the new biochemistry degree at UW-Stevens Point, the First Nations Studies degree at UW-Green Bay and the Leadership and Organizational Studies degree at UW-Oshkosh.

The new degrees have been forwarded onto the full board for a vote today.

UW-Oshkosh played host for day one of the regents' monthly meeting Thursday, and the full board will reconvene in Oshkosh again this morning.