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Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us.

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Does everybody have recording capabilities that want them?

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I'm going to go ahead and record here. If there's no objections, we have Regent President.

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Recording in progress.

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Kyle Weatherly and Interim President Renee Walker with us for to discuss today's announcement.

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I will turn it over to them in just a moment.

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President Weatherly.

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Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks a lot for making time and greetings from UW-Green Bay,

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where we just made this announcement in person.

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I'm Kyle Weatherly, President of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

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Over the last six years, I've had the privilege of seeing firsthand how our universities change lives,

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strengthen communities, and prepare Wisconsin's workforce for the future.

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Today, we are announcing a centerpiece of the University of Wisconsin's budget proposal,

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a commitment to make high-quality university education more affordable and accessible for Wisconsin families.

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As part of that commitment, the Board of Regents is proposing a new four-year tuition pledge.

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Under this pledge, tuition will remain frozen for two academic years beginning in the fall of 27,

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provided that the state invests 190 million to support the cost of the freeze in other operating needs

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that preserve high-quality education.

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Which also the universities of Wisconsin, to limiting tuition increases in the following two years

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to no more than the rate of inflation.

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For students entering one of our universities in the fall of 27,

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that means four years of predictable tuition with costs that remain well below inflation.

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It represents an important commitment to Wisconsin families and helps ensure the University of Wisconsin

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remain the Midwest leader in tuition affordability.

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And with that, I'll turn it over to President Walker.

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Thank you, Regent President Weatherly.

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You know, over the past week, we have been traveling across Wisconsin

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to share the promises that we're making to the people of our state through our budget proposal.

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At their core, these promises are about expanding opportunity

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and helping Wisconsin meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.

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Today, we're highlighting our signature affordability promise,

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ensuring that every Wisconsinite has access to a high-quality, affordable,

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universities of Wisconsin education.

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The four-year tuition pledge is an important part of that commitment.

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But the second part of that is a new initiative called Wisconsin Work and Learn.

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Wisconsin Work and Learn would eliminate tuition for Wisconsin students

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whose families earn at or below the state's median household income.

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In exchange for commitment to work, internships,

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apprenticeships, or career preparation,

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students would gain a more affordable path to a degree,

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while Wisconsin gains the workforce our future depends on.

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By combining last-dollar financial aid with career-connected learning,

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the program helps ensure that cost is not a barrier to opportunity,

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while strengthening Wisconsin's economy and workforce.

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Together, the four-year tuition pledge and Wisconsin Work and Learn

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would help to ensure that the universities of Wisconsin remain the Midwest leader

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in tuition affordability.

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They would provide families with greater certainty,

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remove financial barriers for thousands of students,

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and reaffirm Wisconsin's longstanding belief that talent and hard work,

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not financial circumstance, should determine a student's opportunity to succeed.

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Thank you very much, President Walker.

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And now we'll turn it over for any questions.

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Thanks, President Weatherly. Sabina, do you want to kick us off?

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Yeah, thank you so much for taking some time today to speak with us.

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I just wanted to start by asking about this Wisconsin Work and Learn program.

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Could you just give us some more specifics on how this exchange

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for a commitment to work for internships would work for eliminating tuition,

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just some more specifics on that?

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Sure, so it is a last-dollar financial aid program connected with career learning.

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And so we know there'll be a work certification part of it,

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and it covers things like all the things that you think about

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that help develop our students to go out into the workforce.

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So that includes, you know, having an internship.

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If you're in education, you know, your teacher placement, your clinicals,

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those kinds of experiences that contribute to you being career ready.

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And if I can just add on to that from my personal experience,

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my wife graduated from UW Oshkosh 20 years ago.

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She came from a lower working-class family.

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She paid for college by herself.

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She worked two jobs, and she still wasn't able to fund her entire tuition

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and had to take out loans.

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It's people like my wife.

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I mean, she still has actual scars from where she was donating plasma to help make ends meet.

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So it's people like my wife that are donating plasma,

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that are working two jobs, and she ended up getting a 4-0 at UW Oshkosh

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that we're trying to help with this program.

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Thanks. Go ahead, Josh.

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Was politics.

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Thanks very much.

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I wanted to ask, you know, will this last dollar financial aid,

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will it be dependent on students getting internships or apprenticeships?

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Will they have help?

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And then will it cover all career paths or just a set of degrees or career paths?

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You know, all of our universities have career centers and oftentimes even some of that,

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that career guidance is within the programs themselves.

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And so we anticipate that our career service centers and advisors stand ready

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to help our students as they navigate their choices.

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But this is really meant to cover all students across the state of Wisconsin.

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Nadia, do you have a question?

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Yeah, I was just wondering in the past,

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I know there's been discussion in budget proposals about like tuition promises,

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those kinds of programs.

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How would this tuition freeze work with those?

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Is that something that you guys were considering would work into this at all?

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I would just love to make sure that I cover that base.

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Yeah, I mean, this is very similar to a tuition promise,

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but where I would describe a tuition promise as the state asking students to meet them halfway.

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The students are really meeting us more than halfway.

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They're doing most of the work.

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They're not only carrying a job and a full workload, but they're working on their academics as well.

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So we are just carrying that little bit, you know, I compare it to the last 10 yards.

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Of sort of fully funding their education, right?

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They're getting most of the way there on themselves, but we're just helping them at that very end.

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So as the president already said, this is a last dollar program.

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So this is after they've already received any Pell grants that eligible for any other scholarships that eligible for.

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And this just makes up the last thousand, two thousand, three thousand dollars that might be the delta between their entire tuition and having it take out loans.

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Hi, this is Corey. You said in the beginning that you would commit to keeping tuition frozen for the next two academic years provided the state invest 190 million.

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What if the state doesn't commit to that? Will there be tuition increases?

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Just a point of clarity.

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Commit to keeping any tuition increases below the inflation.

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So two years of a freeze funded by the state following by followed by two years that is tied to it that is going to be below inflation.

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Right. So this is for four years you're talking about.

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But again, if the if the state does not commit to this investing this money, will there then be higher tuition increases?

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That's part of a different process later in the later in the year at the same time.

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We have the same inflationary pressures that every other business, every other organization in the country is under right now.

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In addition to that, we need to fund our payroll increases that are set by the state.

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They're not set by us. So we need to meet those obligations.

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So even if we try to hold everything flat, our costs increased dramatically.

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From year to year. So while that's part of a different process, it would be very, very difficult.

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It would be difficult.

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It would be difficult to not increase tuition if the state doesn't commit to to the 190 million.

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Yes.

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Okay. Thank you.

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Scott of AP.

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Hey, thanks. Sorry.

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So with that in mind, do you guys have a position on who you'd like to see running state government next year? Do you think Democrats would be more amiable to this plan or have you approached either.

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Or have you been a candidate for governor to get their thoughts on where they fall on this?

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Well, we, you know, we know that the election talk is in the air, but really the last few months, we have spent most of our time and attention on, on really crafting a budget that is designed to be bold and address the state's needs, you know, really building on the legacy of the

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policies of Wisconsin, who's been built over several generations and as we feel very excited about how to what the difference that we can make to meet some of the greatest challenges facing the state.

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The things that we're talking about the promises that we're making with this budget process.

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Health care, advancing the Wisconsin economy and addressing affordability.

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We view as bipartisan or nonpartisan issues and we're excited to have conversations with all the potential future governors, potential future senators and representatives over the course of the coming months.

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PBS Wisconsin is somebody here from PBS Wisconsin with a question.

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How about 620 WTM J.

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And Sean, Sean, do you have a question?

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Okay, well, thanks everybody. I don't know if we'd be able to get through another round. So I think we'll.

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And here, we'll move on to one more round of interviews that we have scheduled very much appreciate your time. We'll be around to ask answer follow ups if you have them.

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Thanks everybody.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.