MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The University of Wisconsin System regents moved closer Thursday toward raising graduate tuition at five campuses and out-of-state undergraduate rates at three locations, pushing the plan through a committee and on to the full board.
The regents’ business and finance committee approved the proposal on a unanimous voice vote during a morning meeting at UW-Green Bay. The full Board of Regents is expected to take up the plan on Friday.
The increases would come as the system grapples with $250 million in cuts Republican lawmakers imposed in the 2015-17 state budget. The spending plan maintains a freeze on undergraduate resident tuition through the 2016-17 academic year, removing one of the system’s major revenue generators, but GOP legislators allowed the regents to raise nonresident and graduate tuition.
UW-La Crosse, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville, UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater have asked the regents for permission to raise their nonresident or graduate tuition rates or both for the upcoming year.
The proposal calls for raising out-of-state undergraduate tuition by 3.7 percent at UW-La Crosse, 1 percent at UW-Milwaukee and 3.4 percent at UW-Whitewater.
All five schools want to increase graduate tuition, ranging from a half-percent increase for master’s degrees in applied psychology and food services at UW-Stout to a nearly 18 percent increase for a master’s degree in computer science at UW-Platteville. That translates to between just a couple dollars to $1,360 more on students’ bills, depending on the school and the program.
The increases together would generate about $1.9 million in total additional revenue for the five schools, according to a background memo supplied to regents.
An approval would mark the second straight year the regents have moved to raise out-of-state and graduate tuition. In April 2015, the full board signed off on raising tuition at eight campuses, including La Crosse, Milwaukee, Platteville, Stout and Whitewater, by hundreds of dollars. The regents approved the plan several months before Gov. Scott Walker signed the budget into law but the board wanted to help the schools brace for cuts.
____
Follow Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1
Please read our comment policy before commenting.