Current:Home > Contact-usU of Wisconsin regents agree to ask Gov. Tony Evers for $855 million budget increase-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
U of Wisconsin regents agree to ask Gov. Tony Evers for $855 million budget increase
View Date:2024-12-23 23:17:40
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Universities of Wisconsin regents agreed overwhelmingly on Thursday to ask Gov. Tony Evers for an additional $855 million for the cash-strapped system in the next state budget.
UW system President Jay Rothman has promised he won’t seek to raise tuition during the life of the two-year spending plan if the system gets the money.
Tuition and student fees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the system’s flagship campus, now total $11,606 a year for in-state undergraduates. The total cost to attend the university for a year is about $30,000 when factoring in room and board, educational supplies and other costs.
The UW system’s budget for the current fiscal year stands at $7.95 billion. The additional $855 million would represent a 10.8% increase.
Regent Ashok Rai, chair of the regents’ business and finance committee, warned as he presented the budget request to the full board that inflation is preventing campuses from making investments. The system has cut expenses as much as possible and if the state won’t give the system the addtional money it will have to come from students and their parents, Rai said.
“This is a way forward for the state of Wisconsin,” Rai said of the additional money.
The system’s financial struggles have intensified as state aid plummeted from almost 42% of UW’s revenue in the 1984-85 academic year to 17.5% this year.
The drop in state aid coupled with declining enrollment has left campuses more dependent on tuition. Six of the system’s 13 four-year campuses face a deficit heading into this academic year and UW officials have announced plans to close six two-year branch campuses since last year.
The $855 million in additional funding would cover an 8% across-the-board salary increase for faculty and staff. It would also help expand the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, a program that covers tuition and fees for low-income students.
The program covered students whose families earned $62,000 or less after its debut in 2023. Financial constraints put the program on hold this year except at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee. UW plans to restart it next fall for students whose families earn $55,000 or less, using mostly money from within system administration. A state funding increase would enable it to expand to families with incomes up to $71,000 beginning in 2026.
The new money also would keep two-year branch campuses open, Rothman has said.
The regents ultimately approved the request on a unanimous voice vote. But the ask is just the initial step in the grueling budget-making process.
Evers will consider the request as he crafts his 2025-27 state budget. He’ll give the spending plan early next year to the Legislature’s finance committee, which will spend weeks revising it ahead of full legislative approval. The budget will then go back to the governor, who can use his partial veto powers to rework the document one last time before signing it into law.
Evers has already promised to give the university system more than $800 million. The governor’s spokesperson, Britt Cudaback, said Evers “looks forward to meeting or exceeding the budget request approved by the Board of Regents.”
Even if Evers includes the new money in his budget, it’s far from certain UW will get it.
If Republican legislators retain control of even one house in November’s elections, the odds are slim they’d give UW more than a fraction of the money. Republicans see the university system as a bastion of liberal thought.
The GOP cut a quarter of a billion dollars from UW’s budget in the 2015-17 state budget and imposed an eight-year tuition freeze that they didn’t lift until 2021. They withheld $32 million from the system in the current state budget, releasing it only after regents agreed to limit diversity and equity initiatives.
Aides to Sen. Howard Marklein and Rep. Mark Born, Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s finance committee, didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the request.
veryGood! (7844)
Related
- Stock market today: Asian stocks decline as China stimulus plan disappoints markets
- 'The Amazing Race' Season 36 cast: Meet the teams racing around the world
- An unusual criminal case over handwritten lyrics to ‘Hotel California’ goes to trial Wednesday
- Michael Strahan’s Daughter Isabella Details “Horrible” First Round of Chemotherapy Amid Cancer Battle
- 2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
- Popular North Carolina brewery shuts down indefinitely after co-founder dies in an accident
- Who wins the NL Central? Brewers owner rebuffs critics that say they can't repeat division
- Beyoncé becomes first Black woman to claim top spot on Billboard’s country music chart
- Homes of Chiefs’ quarterback Mahomes and tight end Kelce were broken into last month
- A Colorado man is dead after a pet Gila monster bite
Ranking
- Inflation ticked up in October, CPI report shows. What happens next with interest rates?
- Florida Legislature passes bill to release state grand jury’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation
- Shoppers Say This TikTok-Loved $1 Lipstick Feels Like a Spa Day for Their Lips
- Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed after tech shares pull Wall Street lower
- Britney Spears reunites with son Jayden, 18, after kids moved in with dad Kevin Federline
- First there were AI chatbots. Now AI assistants can order Ubers and book vacations
- Senate conservatives press for full Mayorkas impeachment trial
- Another Climate Impact Hits the Public’s Radar: A Wetter World Is Mudslide City
Recommendation
-
Social media star squirrel euthanized after being taken from home tests negative for rabies
-
Apple says not to put wet iPhones in uncooked rice. Here's what to do instead.
-
Married at First Sight's Jamie Otis Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 3 With Doug Hehner
-
How did hair become part of school dress codes? Some students see vestiges of racism
-
At age 44, Rich Hill's baseball odyssey continues - now with Team USA
-
'Heartbroken': 2 year old killed after wandering into road, leaving community stunned
-
What to know about the death of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham in Texas
-
You Might've Missed Meghan Markle's Dynamic New Hair Transformation