UW-Madison students will pay an additional $638 in tuition next academic year as a result of the UW System Board of Regents approving a 5.5 percent tuition increase at all four-year universities for the 2010-2011 school year.
Combining the increase with the already approved Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, tuition at UW-Madison has risen by 8.7 percent for a total annual cost of $7,933.
According to Charles Pruitt, Board of Regents president, a combination of economic factors made the increase necessary. However, the main driver was the significant cuts in the state budget.
""We have tried to keep the tuition increase modest. These increases are exclusively to ensure quality to all campuses across the state,"" Pruitt said.
Some students are unhappy about the tuition increase, including the incoming president of the Working Class Student Union, Heidi Freymiller.
""As a student who is interested in seeing all students in Wisconsin have access to the education, it is frustrating because it is a public education but it is not being funded like one anymore,"" Freymiller said. ""The tuition increase continues to make the education unaffordable to families in Wisconsin.""
Even with both increases, UW-Madison tuition remains the second lowest in the Big Ten.
Students who come from families that earn less than the state median income ($60,000) are eligible to apply for special grants out of the $8 million that the UW System would provide to offset the increases.
David Giroux, UW System spokesperson, said the financial aid measure is to protect students.
""It makes sure that no one is priced out of a college education,"" Giroux said.
Pruitt agrees the financial aid measure is important and helpful.
""We are doing anything we can to make it easier. We know these are difficult times,"" Pruitt said.
Although Freymiller said she is glad that there will be additional assistance, she does not believe the aid goes ""far enough.""
""[The Working Class Student Union is] glad that [UW has] found a way to assist the lowest income students at UW. However, it leaves a large chunk of students out such as students who maybe make $65,000 a year. That increase in financial aid will not affect their families,"" Freymiller said. ""$60,000 is quite a low threshold when you consider people around that are struggling as well.""
