The Legislature’s audit committee co-chairs called for a larger audit on the University of Wisconsin System following Friday’s revelation of its $648 million surplus and the frustration from legislators that has ensued.
Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, and Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Randall, want to expand an audit from the Legislative Audit Bureau after reports of the surplus, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which obtained a document from Cowles outlining the audit.
UW System officials continue to defend their need for a surplus, emphasizing that $441 million is being spent, with the remaining $207 million to be saved as a safety net. Of the $648 million, $414 million comes from tuition.
UW’s balance makes up $298 million of the $648 million surplus system-wide, according to a statement from Interim Chancellor David Ward. He said he understood anger from legislators, but said the majority of the surplus goes to help students.
“We believe we are being prudent stewards of resources,” Ward said. “Carrying positive account balances that allow us to fund a variety of programs and services central to the university’s mission and that help guard against fiscal uncertainty from year to year is an important component in our complex budgeting process at UW-Madison.”
Part of UW’s balance is being spent on increasing financial aid as well as helping grow programs like business and engineering, Ward said.
UW System President Kevin Reilly and Ward testified at the Capitol Tuesday, where Senate President Mike Ellis, R-Neenah said legislators are “disgusted” over the issue.
Reilly said Tuesday the UW System’s balance is below that of peer universities.
Ellis sent Reilly a letter Thursday asking whether the UW System Board of Regents had any say in the size of the balance. Ellis also asked for a more detailed outline of where the $441 million in spending is going.
“I know your pay is in the upper tier of income in Wisconsin and a 5.5 percent tuition increase would not dramatically influence your bottom line,” Ellis said in the letter. “However, I remind you that students and families have experienced hardship and gone into debt because of skyrocketing tuition at UW.”
Legislators on both sides promised students would see a tuition freeze in the budget. Some have also discussed the possibility of cutting Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $181 million investment in the UW System, something United Council of UW Students is trying to ensure does not happen.
United Council spokesperson Matt Guidry said while the group supports the tuition freeze, it wants to make sure the Legislature keeps as much of the $181 million as possible.
Guidry defended parts of the balance, as they are for building renovations, as well as for fixing the damage from a recent flooding in UW-Stevens Point’s student union.
“There’s parts in there that are not spoken for, and we’re not very pleased with extra tuition being charged for that,” Guidry said. “On the other hand, those parts that are spoken for and are out there are actually some big, important things.”
United Council thanked legislators for their calls on freezing tuition, but also asked them to increase funding for financial aid in a Thursday statement.
Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, who sits on the Legislature’s finance committee, has been pushing for freezing tuition since before the Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo came out last Friday. He said he supports the audit and wants a reduction in tuition, which some legislators from both parties have also advocated.
Grothman criticized United Council for testifying at committee hearings and pushing for a tuition cap.
However, Guidry said that has been a “moot point” since the reports of the surplus came out and added the group is now pushing for a tuition freeze.
