The Office of Academic Planning and Institutional Research released the fifth annual Madison Initiative for Undergraduates report Tuesday, evoking a positive response from campus administration, according to a UW-Madison release.
With a lack of certainty in state and federal financial aid availability, UW-Madison created MIU in 2009. The program is desired to fund undergraduates on a need-based system.
Funded through tuition, MIU invested $40 million annually among student services and “instructional support,” according to the release.
“MIU has been an enormously [successful] way to improve the educational experience for our students. It shows that new dollars—wisely spent—can make a real difference,” UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in the release. “The initiative has increased access, reduced time to graduation and inspired our instructors and staff to seek out innovative ways to make their teaching and advising more effective.
Goals of MIU funding include ensuring the university provides classes necessary for degree completion to better prepare students for various careers. Additionally, the initiative supplies students with career advising and mentoring programs to help steer them through their major.
Since 2009, the average time it took to earn a degree improved from 4.20 years for 2008-’09 graduates down to 4.16 for the 2013-’14 class.
Throughout the past five years, UW-Madison hired 78 new faculty members, resulting in a larger potential for undergraduates in a given major to take the required “gateway courses.”
Tied to the MIU, the Common Scholarship Application aided 7,660 students who received $3.1 million in scholarships across various departments on campus.
“We’ve demonstrated our priority of looking at the long-term value of a UW-Madison education,” Chief of Staff in the Office of the Provost Eden Inoway-Ronnie said. “We needed the flexibility to use tuition as a way to continue to keep it affordable and keep the quality high.”
