This year nationwide state spending on higher education increased at the lowest rate in a decade, a recent budget analysis showed. But while the rate of funding for the UW System was higher than the national average, a UW System spokesperson said the numbers do not tell the whole story.
Nationally, state appropriations for higher education rose an average 1.2 percent in the 2002-'03 fiscal year, failing to keep up with the 2 percent rate of inflation, according to a study conducted by Illinois State University.
The study also showed the UW System's state appropriation grew 2.7 percent to nearly $1 billion in the past year, the nineteenth highest increase in the country.
But Erik Christianson, spokesperson for the UW System, said the funding increases primarily went to fixed costs like utilities, debt payment and salaries. He also said the $44 million cut the UW System received earlier this year was disproportionately high in comparison to cuts in other state programs.
\The picture's not as rosy as it seems, especially for students,"" Christianson said.
James Palmer, director of the ISU study, said state funding for the UW System was typical of the national trend. He also said the data reflect the vulnerability of state funding for higher education during economic downturns.
""At this point, states simply don't have the wherewithal to increase higher education budgets to the extent that they had in the late 1990s,"" Palmer said.
However John Torphy, vice chancellor for administration at UW-Madison, said the UW System received no increases in state funding during the 1990s, and most state revenue increases during that time went to property tax relief and corrections. He also said this year's budget relief bill wiped away the first funding increases that the UW System has seen in a decade.
Christianson said state support for the UW System has steadily eroded since its founding in the early 1970s. Then the state of Wisconsin provided half of the system's budget. Now the state provides less than one third.
Christianson also said Wisconsin state support per student is approximately $1,000 less than the national average.
Financial crunches may be especially tight next year because applications to the UW System are up 24 percent, Christianson said.
""If the state can't support additional funds for growing enrollments then we're either going to have to raise the revenue in other ways-primarily through tuition-or we're going to have to reduce our enrollments,"" Christianson said.
Governor-elect Jim Doyle will likely present his budget in February, Christianson said.
