UNDATED (WSAU-Wheeler News) The Walker administration has asked lawmakers to include limits on U-W tuition increases in the next state budget. In a letter to the heads of the Joint Finance Committee, the Republican Walker seeks to cap tuition for in-state undergraduate students to the rate of inflation starting in the fall of 2017. It would follow a second two-year tuition freeze for resident undergrads that’s included in the budget Walker sent to lawmakers in February.
The governor’s budget calls for a $300-million cut in state funding to the U-W, in exchange for giving the system more autonomy from state rules. Students and at least some lawmakers fear that tuition would rise dramatically, once the governor and Legislature give up control. Those concerns sparked Walker to indicate as early as mid-February that he might consider a cap on in-state tuition according to inflation. University President Ray Cross is against it. He said such limits would not be compatible with what he calls the “agile, market-driven, and competitive entity the state needs us to be.”
Cross said the university is sensitive to the issue of affordability but in his words, “The U-W System should be just as responsive and nimble as our peers and competitors when it comes to setting tuition.”
The finance panel is about to begin the process of acting on the various budget provisions. Assembly finance chair John Nygren recently said the autonomy provision could be scaled back, as well as the size of the state funding cut.
