The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted Feb. 9 to eliminate application fees for 10 out of 13 of its campuses. UW–Eau Claire, UW–La Crosse will maintain a $25 application fee while UW–Madison will maintain a $70 fee.
The new policy is consistent with Direct Admit Wisconsin and continues the Universities of Wisconsin’s commitment to access and affordability, UW spokesperson Mark Pitsch said in an email statement to The Badger Herald.
Though UW–Madison does have an application fee, the university offers several application fee waivers that are widely used by students in low-income households, Office of Student Financial Aid Communications Manager Karla Weber Wandel said.
“UW–Madison’s also a really great leader in reviewing all of the student fees associated for students who are enrolled from low-income households,” Wandel said.
Application fees dissuade students from applying to college, UW–Madison assistant professor of educational policy studies Taylor Odle said in an email to The Badger Herald. Research has also shown that complicated processes to receive waivers can present additional challenges to students, Odle said.
Students who received simple and detailed information on how to apply for financial aid through a simplified application form were 12% more likely to submit it compared to their peers undergoing the full application form, according to a study Odle co-authored for The Brookings Institution.
“The process is very simple for getting those fee waivers in the application,” Wandel said. “We also do a lot of communication to high school counselors and others who support the college-going journey so that they’re aware of the availability of these fee waivers.”
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Prospective UW students who would like to request an application fee waiver must submit a short form to the Office of Admissions of the campus to which they are applying.
UW–Madison uses funds from application fees to support admissions operations such as application readers and reviewers themselves, Wandel said.
The full cost of attending college includes housing, food, transportation and other living expenses, Wandel said. Without financial assistance, there are many students who either would not attend college at all or sacrifice their ability to regularly attend classes by working multiple jobs.
Wandel also said students who qualify for fee waivers are automatically considered for other waivers for costs such as housing deposits or SOAR programming.
“We want all of our students on this campus no matter what background or where they come from, to be able to have the full Wisconsin experience,” Wandel said.
Odle expects institutions who waive or eliminate fee waivers will receive more applications in subsequent years. Those applications will likely come from students from middle to low-income families and underserved backgrounds, Odle said.
