University of Wisconsin president asks for massive $855 million state funding boost to avoid raising tuition for students
The president of the University of Wisconsin is asking for $855 million in new funding so the university can avoid raising student tuition over the course of the next two years.
Six of the 13 schools within the UW System face a deficit as they head into the 2024-25 academic school year, and UW administrators and officials plan on closing six two-year branches of the System, as announced last year.
The president of the University of Wisconsin is asking for $855 million in new state funding so the university can avoid raising student tuition over the course of the next two years.
In a Zoom press conference, President Jay Rothman stated that if the Board of Regents gives the school the money he is seeking, he would be able to subsidize tuition, give raises to staff, avoid tuition increases to students, and keep some two-year branches of the campus open.
Lawmakers in the state of Wisconsin will begin drafting a budget deal that will be delivered to the desk of Governor Tony Evers, who can partially veto the bill and reshape certain elements of it.
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The funding comes as nearly a quarter of the University of Wisconsin System’s revenue has come from tuition only this last year, with 17 percent of funding being accounted for by state funding. This additional funding comes as the system gained a 4.9 percent increase in funding for the 2023-24 year and a 3.75 percent increase in funding for the 2024-25 terms.
Part of the funds that will be received from the state will cover tuition and fees for students coming from families of lower-income beginning 2026.
Families who make less than $62,000 will be eligible for assistance from the university, and due to economic constraints that the school experienced this last year, the program was put on hold except for students at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee.
Six of the 13 schools within the UW System face a deficit as they head into the 2024-25 academic school year, and UW administrators and officials plan on closing six two-year branches of the System, as announced last year.
The university receiving the funds is also a current problem, as state legislators had previously cut a quarter of a billion dollars from UW’s budget for the 2015-17 schools year, and withheld $32 million from the UW System in the current state budget in exchange for a demand that the Board of Regents limit DEI initiatives at the university.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Wisconsin Madison for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
