The UW System Board of Regents unanimously voted in a June 10 meeting to increase tuition about $700 more per year for the Madison and Milwaukee campuses and $500 more for other campuses.
Because of a cut to UW System funding of about $250 million in the 2003-'05 state budget, in-state UW students, hit with a 16 percent increase in tuition in the last school year, will experience a 14 percent increase this year.
Of the $250 million that was cut, the university will recover about $150 million by raising tuition.
Regents spokesperson Doug Bradley explained that due to the cuts UW-Madison received, it had no choice but to increase tuition. However, in an Aug. 19 meeting the regents requested additional funding from the governor and state Legislature in an attempt to bring about only modest tuition increases for the 2005-'06 school year.
\It was the best we could do,"" Bradley said. ""I think the hope is that this next budget, we've got a reinvestment from the state, and we don't have to have the tuition go up that much.""
The regents' request has been met with mixed reaction, Bradley said. He explained that students, student groups and faculty have given it a positive response but some legislators have been less enthusiastic in supporting the regents' plan.
Early next year, Gov. Jim Doyle will release his budget, which will then go to the Joint Committee on Finance. The committee will hold public hearings and gather input from around the state. If the budget then passes both houses, it will go back to the governor who has veto authority.
According to Doyle's spokesperson Melanie Fonder, the governor is committed to having a university system that is affordable and accessible.
""[Gov. Doyle] will look very closely at this request,"" she said.
Regardless of Gov. Doyle's future actions, The UW System has to absorb the $250 million cut. Madison State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, explained that half of $250 million will be cut in school funding, with the tuition increases covering the other $125 million.
""You had the situation, which I felt was unjustifiable,"" Black said. ""Students were paying significantly more for less.""
UW-Madison sophomore Jeremy Roberts expressed similar disdain for the tuition increase.
""Frankly, it disgusts me,"" he said. ""Tuition is being raised by 14 percent, [but] my education isn't 14 percent better.""
Bradley said despite tuition increases, the UW System still charges reasonable amounts for tuition.
""If you look at other Big Ten universities, we are still second from the lowest in tuition,"" he said. ""We are a fairly good bargain and affordable.""
-Eric Reinert contributed to this report.
