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The cost of attending University of

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Wisconsin schools is going up

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in the fall.

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This month, the UW Board

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of Regents approved a 2%

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tuition hike for in-state

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undergraduate students plus

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roughly commensurate increases in

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fees and room and board.

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That will put UW Madison at

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$12,416

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on the high end and UW

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Parkside at $8,851

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at the lowest price point.

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It's the fourth tuition increase in

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a row after a 10-year freeze.

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In the midst of increasing cost

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pressures on families, how

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reasonable is the tuition hike?

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We're joined by a professor in

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the UW-Madison Department of

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Education Policy, Taylor Odle,

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and thanks for being here.

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Thanks for having me.

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So a 2% tuition hike

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on paper seems really

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modest, but at a time, as we said,

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when people question the value

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of a college degree, does it turn

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some people away?

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I think it's very important

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to acknowledge that a 2% increase is

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very real money for students and

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families.

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I think at the same time we also

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have to acknowledge costs are going

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up for all of us including

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organizations and businesses like

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the universities of Wisconsin.

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2% is relatively modest

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and predictable and below the rate

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of inflation right now.

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It doesn't mean it doesn't have

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important conversations about

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dollars and cents at the end of the

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day, but what students and family

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should really care about is the net

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price of college.

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So when you quote that $12,000 or

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that $8,000, that's what we call the

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sticker price, what you see on the

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website.

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But from that, we know people get

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grants and scholarships, and that

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pulls it down to what we called the

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net price, the check that you have

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to write at the end of the day to be

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able to enroll.

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And that number has actually been

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relatively flat over the last

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several years because UW is

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taking money from these tuition

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increases and putting it back into

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financial aid.

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With a 30% decline in

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highest paying international

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students and

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volatile federal research funding,

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what is a university to

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do except use that tuition

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lever?

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That's a great question.

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UW, the universities of Wisconsin

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have three primary revenue sources,

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right? Federal grants, which we are

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among the top in the nation at

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securing.

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We enroll students who pay tuition

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and fees, and we receive funding

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from the state.

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State support has long stagnated,

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with the exception of a recent

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increase.

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And so tuition dollars are our

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primary way of raising funds.

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With a tuition freeze for many,

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many years, our ability to do that

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was hamstrung.

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And so it. Quite literally strangled

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some of the campuses.

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We benefit from having international

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students and even students from out

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of state who pay higher tuition

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rates because they can afford it.

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They are mobile, geographic for

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colleges.

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With a decline in international

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student enrollment, there aren't

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many other students that we can look

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to except for our in-state students,

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especially now because the state has

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begun to increasingly regulate our

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ability to even draw students from

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Minnesota and Iowa and other

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out-of-state partners.

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So how kind of in

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jeopardy are the finances of

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the universities of Wisconsin given

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all of these factors?

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It's at a very serious position,

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right? We've already seen campus

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closures of many regional campuses.

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We've seen cuts to academic

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programs. We've see staff and

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faculty restructurings.

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And so no one wants to

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raise prices.

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If you're a business owner, you

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don't wanna walk out and show your

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customers raising prices.

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The university doesn't wanna do that

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either. We want more people to

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access and have access to

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a college education, like you said,

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for upper social and economic

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mobility.

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But when the state is no longer a

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primary funding partner, federal

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research and grants landscape is

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certainly uncertain.

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Tuition is one of the only livers

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left.

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So some Republican state

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policy makers are super angry about

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this tuition increase, saying it's,

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you know, the fourth in the row

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after a state budget

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gave the system $256

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million.

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What about that persuasion?

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Yeah

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I think the average

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Wisconsinite should also be super

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angry about that characterization.

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So, 256 million is a big number

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and it's a very important

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investment.

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It's however a biennial increase, so

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we have to divide that by two

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because it's going to be the

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120-something million every year.

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And just to put that in context,

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the university leverages, it's the

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state's largest public employer and

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its operating budget is around $7

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billion.

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And so that increase is less than

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almost 1.5%.

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So, substantially below

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inflation, and more importantly,

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that $256 million came with

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a lot of important caveats.

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Most importantly, an unfunded

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salary raise for

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faculty and staff across the

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institution.

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So, no other piece of

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state government has unfunding

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mandates in that same way.

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So, we're required to raise

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salaries by 2% for all faculty

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and staff, but the state didn't put

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in the money to fully fund that

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raise. And so the regents have said

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that. The tuition increase will

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predominately fund faculty

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and staff salary increases mandated.

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Well, that's another piece

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that some policy makers

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are unhappy about because they

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say the number of staff has

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gone up, whereas the

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number of students has not.

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So many people, when they think

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about staff increases on

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cross-campus, we use this federal

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survey where we report people in

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these huge buckets.

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Do they teach?

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Do they work?

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Are they administrative in different

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ways? It doesn't capture the

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granularity of what those staff are

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actually doing.

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So if we hire more students to

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provide career exploration or

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oversee internships for students or

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help them get placements with

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employers, those are staff members

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and those are very valuable staff

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members. I'd be happy to double or

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triple those numbers.

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And so. It's a really nuanced

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conversation, right?

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Are there efficiencies to be had?

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Of course, but we need to

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have better data and a more frank

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conversation around what staff are

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actually increasing.

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Alright, well we leave it there.

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Taylor Odle, thanks very much.

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Thanks.

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For more on this and other issues

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facing Wisconsin, visit our website

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at pbswisconsin.org and

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then click on the news tab.

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That's our program for tonight.

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I'm Frederica Freiberg.

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Have a good weekend.