As graduate student tuition continues to rise at the University of Wisconsin, students and teachers alike discussed their current predicament over an increasingly expensive graduate education Tuesday.

According to numerous members of the Coalition for Affordable Public Education, colleges are losing graduates to unmanageable tuition costs and fear a drop in the school's ranking compared to its peers.

"Because ranking is based on graduate and faculty recruitment and retention, [UW] is likely to drop in institutional ranking," said Kaja Rebane, a UW graduate student and CAPE co-chair. "Once [the ranking] falls, it is very hard to regain it."

According to John Wright, chair of the graduate student stipend committee, even though UW is still competitive in terms of graduate student stipends and recruitment, the school is losing ground rapidly and without immediate action will "suffer the consequences" of falling from the ranks of "excellent institutions."

"Excellence really means active participation in something original, something creative and something that naturally involves interactions with graduate students," Wright said. "The graduates are part of the glue that makes this an excellent institution.

The problem, according to Rebane, lies in numerous factors, including declining state funding, a structural deficit and some depletion of the Capital Exercise Fund, which funds the replacement of equipment.

Rebane added that one of the larger problems arises with "surcharges," which allow for a total yearly $8,000 tuition remission for graduates working under the university.

However, participating UW departments and professors are struggling to cover the cost of surcharges.

"We have all been hit in the head with a hockey stick by the $8,000 surcharge," German professor Joe Salmons said. "We're riding grants and trying to budget variables we can't solve."

According to Bill Tracy, a University Committee member, CAPE is currently working with the Public Representation Organization of the Faculty Senate in lobbying the state Senate for additional funds to cover the gap that surcharges leave for the departments to cover.

Tracy added CAPE is also asking to change to specific "outdated" statutes that create a rigid system preventing the university from taking in more fellowships and grants to cover additional costs for graduate students.

"More flexibility is needed in federal funds," Tracy said. "Federal funds are really complex … so a lot of federal funds we cannot even apply for anymore."

According to Mark Supanich, the CAPE lobbying chair, the university is currently asking for $3.8 million to cover the "hole" that is allowing students and faculty to slip out of the program who are either underpaid or who cannot afford the university. Supanich also said that they hope to maintain all their current allocations so that funding isn't simply being shifted, but added.

Jessica Halpern-Finnerty, student representative at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, expressed her concern over the situation, saying that graduate students are a crucial part of the learning experience at UW.

"It is not uncommon for graduates to be more influential than actual professors," Halpern-Finnerty said. "It seemed obvious to me that is it is really important to have a good TA when you are sitting in a 600-person lecture."