Tuition within the University of Wisconsin System will likely be frozen for the next two years after the state’s Joint Finance Committee approved an omnibus motion May 23 relating to the UW System, but other portions of the approved motion have UW students, specifically those associated with United Council, worried.
The omnibus motion was a collection of changes proposed for Gov. Scott Walker’s 2013-’15 biennial budget that each related to the UW System. The major changes, including the tuition freeze and several other reductions in proposed higher education funding, were discussed after a state audit discovered the UW System was operating with approximately $648 million in unrestricted surplus revenue.
State legislators said they were particularly concerned after finding approximately $414 million of the surplus was taken from students’ tuition dollars. Student tuition has increased by 5.5 percent annually for the past six years.
The proposed tuition freeze is designed to alleviate the financial burden UW students had shouldered for the past six years, according to Walker and state legislators. The freeze, if approved by the full state legislature and Walker, would keep the 2012-’13 tuition rates through the 2014-’15 academic year. Additionally, it would require the UW System to fund operations with existing funding instead of using new tuition revenue.
While the tuition freeze comes as good news to UW students and campus advocacy organizations, such as United Council, a representative body for students at the system’s universities that had continually pushed for such a freeze, the other provisions contained in the omnibus motion have drawn some criticism.
One provision relating directly to United Council would eliminate a mandatory refundable $3 fee students at member campuses pay each semester as part of their segregated fees. The $3 goes toward United Council’s operating budget, but if students do not wish to pay the fee, they have the right to get their $3 refunded.
The language in the approved motion would change the fee collection from an “opt out” system, as it currently stands, to an “opt in” system where students have to specifically request to donate to United Council.
Matt Guidry, communications director for United Council, said the change could eliminate anywhere from 10 to 90 percent of the organization’s operating budget.
While Guidry said he was confident United Council could still work to accumulate funding, he said the reduction would seriously curb the organization’s effectiveness.
“We’ll get some students and we’ll work hard to get students opted in, but the kicker is that it takes away the ability to do important work like the tuition freeze,” Guidry said.
State Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, who also serves as a co-chair of the JFC, said the change would have little impact on the organization’s ability to operate. He said UW students notice UC’s “good work” and will continue to contribute to the organization even without the mandatory refundable fee.
Walker’s full biennial budget is set to be voted on during the summer and will have to pass through both houses of the state legislature before likely receiving final approval from Walker.
