The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will discuss a set of strategies Thursday for improving the UW System?s tuition and financial aid policies.

The regents will review different strategies considered by the UW System president?s advisory group on tuition and financial aid policy, including tuition stratification, differential tuition, per-credit tuition, discounts for prepaying tuition and discounts for families with multiple students enrolled at UW System institutions or elsewhere.

The group was created in May 2007 to review the UW System?s current policies on tuition and financial aid and to provide recommendations for reaching the goals of the UW System.

However, the board will not make any decisions on their discussion, a new format for the regents, said UW System spokesperson David Giroux. They will meet for one day and will focus on big-picture discussions rather than specific plans of action.

The Board of Regents is expected to review several tuition models and strategies recommended by the advisory group that would make higher education more affordable for everyone.

According to Giroux, UW-Madison already has a program-based differential tuition plan at the School of Business in which some students pay higher tuition than others. The extra costs pay for things that improve the quality of education available to them, Giroux said. UW-La Crosse has just recently adopted a campuswide differential tuition policy, he added.

There is a base level of tuition set for all UW comprehensive campuses, but UW-La Crosse students will pay a slightly higher tuition, Giroux said. The extra money will go directly back into the campus to pay for things like additional faculty and increased enrollment.

The regents will also discuss strategies for gaining additional funding for financial aid. The university has seen increases from the state for the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant and also from private donors.

?Students today carry a much larger share of their educational cost compared to the state than they did 10 years ago, and that trend is likely to continue,? Giroux said. ?We have very low tuition in Wisconsin, but we also have very low financial aid.?

With the continually rising costs of higher education, the university is still looking for ways to provide more financial aid to its students, Giroux said. The university aims to make sure students from lower-income families won?t be deterred from college education because they think they can?t afford it.

?We think the investments that the state and private givers have made send a positive signal to those students, but we think more needs to be done,? Giroux said.

The board will also discuss recommendations made by a special commission appointed by UW Colleges Chancellor David Wilson to ?improve upon the historical liberal arts mission? of UW?s 13 two-year schools.

According to Teri Venker, spokesperson for UW Colleges and UW-Extension, the board will be discussing two recommendations in particular: the strategy of pursuing limited baccalaureate degree authority for the UW Colleges and exploring ways to offer UW Colleges? courses and programs in underserved areas of northern Wisconsin.

?We feel that there is a need to offer higher education in more areas so more people can get a college education,? Venker said. ?The state has a need for people with baccalaureate degrees. The more highly educated people there are, the better the economy will be.?