Students receiving reciprocity with Minnesota may see their tuition change as a result of a report released last week.
While the report suggested improving fairness of provisions in reciprocity agreements, it also said enabling students to cross state borders without facing enormous tuition hikes is worth preserving.
According to the report, Wisconsin residents pay $1,174 less per year than Minnesota residents to attend the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Conversely, Minnesota residents at UW-Madison pay $1,174 more than Wisconsin residents.
Joel Alter, project manager from the Office of Legislative Auditor of Minnesota, said such statistics cause some to question provisions in the current Wisconsin-Minnesota agreement.
\The issue is one of fairness ... it causes some students and administrators some concern. It doesn't look good,"" Alter said.
For the 40,000 students who participate in reciprocity, it is not the financial benefits but program offerings that caused them to leave their state, said Phil Lewenstein, communications director for the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office.
""It increases access and choice of opportunity to pursue the higher education that best meets an individual student's needs,"" Lewenstein said.
Some administrators said a solution to making the Wisconsin-Minnesota agreement more fair is to enact a surcharge on Wisconsin residents studying in Minnesota.
""If a surcharge was levied against Wisconsin residents going across the St. Croix ... it would still give them the opportunity to go the U of M without paying significantly higher non-resident tuition,"" Associate Director of UW-Madison admissions Keith White said.
An amended agreement, stating residents pay the higher of the two states' rates, Alter said, would make the Wisconsin-Minnesota agreement similar to that of Minnesota and North and South Dakota.
Such a fix, he said, would not only make the agreement more fair, but cause taxpayers less concern that their taxes subsidize other states' students while their students pay more elsewhere.
White said though changes would still give students a bargain, it may have unforeseen effects.
""Changing the agreement may cause Wisconsin residents to attend one of the UW System schools instead of going out of state,"" White said.
Despite these questions of fairness, Lewenstein said, these reciprocity agreements are worth continuing.
""These are programs for students,"" he said. ""Over time, we can work with other states to pursue these points made in the report.\
