A UW System budget proposal would require UW-Madison students to pay an additional $170 in student fees, an average of $209 more in housing fees and $50 more for the meal plan.
The majority of the additional $170 in student segregated fees would go toward replacing the Southeast Recreational Facility, also known as the SERF, with the Nicholas Recreation Center. In 2014, 87 percent of students voted to approve upgrades to recreational facilities, although only 35 percent of campus participated in the vote.
A smaller portion of the increase in fees — $8.59 — is proposed for “mental health expansion and organized activities.” While part of students’ segregated fees already goes to University Health Services, no portion of last year’s segregated fees was specifically marked for mental health support. This has been a key issue this past semester, as the Associated Students of Madison have focused on increasing mental health support at UHS.
Tuition for in-state undergraduates will remain the same for the seventh consecutive year under the tuition freeze, recently extended for an additional two years.
UW-Madison’s fee increase is the highest for any of the UW System’s 13 campuses, the others’ ranging from an additional $2 at UW-Whitewater to $70 at UW-Stout.
However, UW-Madison’s per-student segregated fee rate is only the fourth-highest in the UW System, behind UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay and UW-Superior.
Proposed meal plan fee increases reach up to $170 at UW-Oshkosh, and the highest proposed housing increase is UW-Madison’s at $209. UW-Platteville, UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater do not have any proposed meal plan cost increases; UW-Green Bay and UW-Stevens Point do not have any proposed housing increases; and UW-Milwaukee and UW-River Falls have neither.
