Universities of Wisconsin officials said Monday they are willing to freeze tuition at its universities for the 2027-29 biennium, and restrict any increases to the rate of inflation for two years beyond that.
But there’s a catch.
In exchange for the freeze, the UW system wants the state to invest an additional $190 million in aid. Here’s the details of the plan, and how Wisconsin got here in terms of state aid for higher education. [WPR]
💰What’s the Plan? Called the “4-Year Tuition Pledge,” the plan was detailed Monday by Board of Regents President Kyle Weatherly and interim UW system President Renée Wachter. The move is part of the larger budget proposal for the upcoming biennium, and would mean that a four-year undergraduate student starting college in fall 2027 would see declining tuition (relative to inflation) over their four-year academic career.
But, Weatherly said it would be difficult to implement a freeze without that $190 million commitment.
We have the same inflationary pressures that every other business, every other organization in the country is under right now. In addition to that, we need to fund our payroll increases that are set by the state.
Kyle Weatherly, UW Board of Regents President
The idea will be presented during budget negotiations in the fall to the state Legislature, and the decision may likely be up to Wisconsin’s next governor, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany or Democrat Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
In February, Tiffany pledged that if elected governor he would reinstate the tuition freeze in response to recent increases in tuition and state aid. [News 3, 🎧 City Cast Madison, Daily Cardinal]
🧊 Back in the Deep Freeze: Tuition freezes are nothing new in Wisconsin. In 2013, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a tuition freeze into law that lasted nearly a decade. The Republican-controlled Legislature voted to lift the freeze in 2021, but the Board of Regents opted to extend it another two years because of expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic that the families of students faced. In 2023, the Board of Regents raised undergraduate tuition by 5%.
The freeze saved students thousands of dollars, but critics say the lost revenue threatened the financial stability and educational quality of UW universities. [ WPR, WUWM, 🔒MJS]
🎒 Another Way To Make College Affordable: University leaders have been criss-crossing the state in the last week in hopes of building support for their budget goals. Weatherly and Wachter are also proposing a new program called Wisconsin Work and Learn, which would eliminate tuition for in-state students who earn at or below the median household income if they commit to work or enroll in an internship, apprenticeship, or some other kind of career prep. [WMTV]
