UW Tuition Could Increase After All

Here’s how the UW System is proposing to lessen the impact of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million in UW cuts: by raising tuition. But only for certain students. Later this week, the UW Board of Regents will discuss plans to hike up nonresident and graduate tuition. The proposals, which deftly evade Walker’s long-running freeze on in-state, undergraduate tuition, reportedly began with UW President Ray Cross, who suggested that the schools take a hard look at what they’re charging nonresident students. (Interesting fact: Cross has pledged to resign if he doesn’t find a way to soften Walker’s cuts.)

UW-Madison’s increases would be the most dramatic, increasing nonresident undergraduate tuition from $25,523 (2014-15) to $35,523 by 2018-19. The levy on international students would climb $1,000 higher, to $36,523.

Madison argues that it’s giving away nonresident degrees for a song and cites tuition levels at the University of Michigan ($41,906), Purdue University ($28,804), and Rutgers University ($28,591) by way of comparison. Nonresident applicants are said to be applying at schools like UCLA and UC-Berkeley, and Madison is only accepting them at a rate of 25 percent. “Many of these applicants are looking at a mix of private and public options and are not focusing primarily on price,” says the proposal.

UW-Milwaukee’s proposed increases are smaller and narrower in scope. Nonresident undergraduate tuition would climb to $18,265 in 2015-16, up from $17.820, a difference of $445. The only hike affecting in-state students would be the one for master’s degrees in business:

 

The UW Board of Regents meets later this week at UW-Waukesha.