The UW Board of Regents decided that tuition had to go up 5.5% for students at the four-year universities. They laid the blame in large part (3% of the 5.5%) at the feet of the legislature that mandated free tuition for veterans. There are some 3,200 veterans now registered as students under this program; the program was originally intended to pay 50% of the tuition and that was raised to 100% last fall.
The UW and the legislature have been at odds for a long time. This is likely just the next salvo to be fired in this long battle.
The Regents recently made their selection for the new head of the UW system and she will get a boost in what seems an already hefty salary. That may be offset in small part by contributions from the UW Foundation as has been the past habit since the legislature has attempted to rein in the spending at UW. She was reported to have stated her desire to see salaries increased soon to bring the UW system up to the standards of the large universities across America. She also wants to see 'domestic partners' covered by the benefit programs made available to system employees. Sounds as though this is going to be a costly hiring decision.
There is concern on the part of some students and the administration over the cost of the veteran's program being shouldered by the students. Maybe that wouldn't have had to be the case had the Regents learned better how to live within their means.
There was little hue and cry from the student body when the UW-La Crosse tuition was increased by some $1,300 per year with those funds to be used to support the tuition of more disadvantaged students attending that institution to better reflect the needs of that community.
The military has never been a 'favorite' of the UW system, so I guess we should expect that kind of differentiation. The students' attitudes tend to reflect that of the institution in which they are immersed.
There is a very real problem with the UW system. We see out-of-state students being rewarded with reduced tuition rates at the expense of Wisconsin students. We see the administration expense running at very high rates with no checks and balances apparent. We see ever-increasing pay ranges for staff, and yet we understand there are many hangers-on that are not earning their keep. Have costs ever been reduced in the UW system? Are shrinking programs ever eliminated? Are these concepts foreign to the Regents?
The system seems to have its own political beliefs and those do not fit in an institution of higher learning. Schools should be apolitical, but that seems to have been forgotten completely over the past four decades.
The UW system begs for a thorough house-cleaning and some solid oversight with enforcement teeth. It has become a significant part of the education industry in our country.
