The UW System Board of Regents discussed Gov. Jim Doyle’s state budget Thursday at its March meeting at UW-Parkside, focusing on potential tuition fluctuations and money devoted toward UW System retention efforts.

Some of the UW System’s future programs to benefit, in UW System President Kevin Reilly’s words, “Wisconsin’s children and grandchildren,” may cause tuition to rise, according to Regent President David Walsh.

“We’re going to have some tough decisions down the road,” he said.

The state’s $21.5 million investment in the UW System’s Growth Agenda will fund programs like the Wisconsin Covenant and other programs aimed at financially assisting pre-college students and offering incentives to do well in high school, with the prospect of acceptance to a UW System school.

The budget also calls for a devotion of $10 million toward retention of faculty and academic research staff, according to Regent Associate Vice President Freda Harris.

Funds will be allocated to specific areas throughout the UW System in competitive research areas that critically need high retention rates, Harris said.

Walsh ended the discussion by praising Doyle for “reinvesting” in the university—$180 million of new state funds are going into the UW System, according to Walsh.