UW-Madison students might face tuition increases and less oversight of the UW System if certain provisions of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, announced Tuesday, are approved by the state Legislature.
The plan would give the UW System a grant totaling $300 million less than what the System received in the last budget, and reorder the System under a public authority model, allowing the Board of Regents to set policy that would otherwise require approval in the Legislature.
“Reforming the partnership between the state and the UW System will save money and allow the UW System the flexibility to better serve those seeking higher education,” Walker said in a statement. “The people of Wisconsin deserve a government that is more effective, more efficient, and more accountable, and this plan protects the taxpayers and allows for a stronger UW System in the future.”
The announcement drew immediate concern on both sides of the aisle that autonomy measures would prompt massive tuition increases across the System once the current state tuition freeze ends in 2017.
“Come 2017-’18 … whatever [the UW System] has lost, they’re authorized to collect that in tuition and fees,” Mike Mikalsen, aid to state Sen. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, said. “They would certainly have the authority to start grabbing that money back, but the only way they can do it is with tuition and fees.”
Mikalsen said Nass could not support the proposal because it removes decisions made by the Board of Regents from legislative oversight.
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank, Mikalsen continued, would especially use the changes as an opportunity to raise tuition at her university.
Blank said last semester that, while she supports the current tuition freeze for Wisconsin residents, raising out-of-state tuition would keep UW-Madison competitive among schools of its caliber.
“Chancellor Blank is supportive of a two year freeze for resident students, and increasing non-resident and professional student tuition,” John Lucas, executive director of UW-Madison communications, said in an email. “She has expressed deep concern that cuts, coupled with a tuition freeze could have a devastating impact on the education students receive and the value of a UW degree.”
Currently, state law allows shared governance a number of rights, including the autonomy to work with staff, students and faculty on various topics concerning the UW-Madison campus.
The proposed budget would potentially remove power from shared governance, eliminating a spot for student voice, Associated Students of Madison Chair Genevieve Carter said.
Carter said she expects the Board of Regents to create a new governance policy that would replace shared governance to assure student interaction in case of its demise.
“The [shared governance] removal would be incredibly detrimental,” Carter said. "At that point, it would really be about UW System ensuring and promising to students that their shared governance rights would not be taken away. That’s definitely something we will be asking as we move forward.”
In addition to the state Legislature, ASM shared concerns about the potential tuition spike for students after 2017, according to an ASM release.
“The future of affordability at UW is very unclear,” Carter said. "That’s incredibly concerning to us, as we are very thankful for the tuition freeze and we are continuously advocating for lower affordability and tuition.”
Carter said the next step is to meet with Blank to further discuss students’ involvement with the System.
