The UW System Board of Regents voted Friday to approve a resolution calling for an end to the tuition freeze in the 2018-’19 school year, a move that was for many their first time voting on a tuition matter as regents.
Regent President Regina Millner pointed out that in light of the four-year freeze, the last time the body voted on tuition was in June 2012—her first meeting as a regent. Millner and other regents underscored that it is the responsibility of the board to set tuition, and advocated Friday’s proposal as a way to get that responsibility back from the legislature.
“This legislature has all confirmed us and has confidence that we will exercise good financial judgment,” Regent Drew Petersen said.
UW System President Ray Cross highlighted points System leaders have hit in the past regarding college affordability: state support for higher education has reached historic lows—declining by $362 million in the last five years—financial aid for students needs to increase instead of sitting stagnant and tuition is just one, not the only, component of an accessible college degree.
“I don’t want to diminish the importance of tuition, but let’s not get tuition tunnel vision,” Cross said, noting that a tuition freeze misses other key factors of affording an education like cost of living and time-to-degree.
Cross added that he finds the structure of tuition-setting in June or July for a September school year “odd,” saying that timing must be addressed to allow better planning for all parties involved.
“It is my recommendation that we discuss this final factor of college affordability today, so that the university and families we serve have a better opportunity to plan for the future,” Cross said.
Regent Margaret Farrow, who previously served as Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor in the early 2000s, agreed that the tuition-setting process begins too late for adequate planning.
“How can a family plan in June for August and September?” Farrow asked. “When I was in the legislature, I thought it was a cockeyed way to do it.”
Farrow also suggested calling a meeting of the regents and the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, which receives and votes on the governor’s initial proposal of the biennial budget.
It could be helpful to share thoughts with the JFC, Farrow said, adding that she feels the committee may act with “less knowledge than they should have” concerning the system’s budget and the future of higher education.
Regent Tim Higgins, who also chairs the system’s Tuition-setting Policy Task Force, mentioned the legislature’s loss of trust in UW before the freeze, a time when the system was given a 5.5 percent cap on increasing tuition and repeatedly used that increase to raise tuition rates.
Higgins said he hopes that in terms of future increases, System leaders will demonstrate exactly why they need the extra funding.
“Let’s do tuition increases that are justified and justifiable,” Higgins argued.
The regents approved the proposal to maintain a flat tuition rate for the 2017-’18 school year, and then allow tuition to rise with the rate of the Consumer Price Index in 2018-’19. However, the decision to end the freeze will ultimately lie with Gov. Scott Walker and the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee in the state’s biennial budget, expected to be announced early spring semester.
