The University of Wisconsin System is at the heart of a long-standing political and financial struggle over tuition affordability, marked by unpredictable “rollercoaster” increases, legislative interventions, and deep partisan divides on funding priorities, impacting students, faculty, and the state’s workforce future.
For decades, students and families in Wisconsin have navigated a “rollercoaster” of tuition increases at the University of Wisconsin (UW) System, characterized by periods of freezes followed by substantial hikes. This unpredictable cycle has spurred legislative action, with Republicans pushing for caps on tuition growth and Democrats advocating for broader affordability initiatives, all against a backdrop of ongoing budget disputes and shifting priorities for higher education funding.
The Push for Predictability: Capping Tuition Increases
State Representative David Murphy (R-Hortonville) is a key figure in the current debate, advocating for Senate Bill 399. This bill proposes tying future tuition increases for the UW System to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the prior year, aiming to provide families with much-needed predictability for budgeting college expenses. According to Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken), the lack of such “guardrails” has led to the university system spending like “drunken sailors,” avoiding rigorous expense reviews while costs to students rise.
This sentiment is reinforced by a recent audit, which revealed an increase in staff and salaries across the UW System over the past decade, even as student enrollment declined by 16,000. While UW interim Vice President of Finance and Administration Julie Gordon emphasizes that affordability remains a priority for the Board of Regents, the challenge of immediately realizing all online course costs, such as professor training and technology, complicates the picture. Gordon highlighted efforts to simplify student bills for greater clarity, moving away from “telephone bill” like lists of add-on costs.
The urgency of the cap proposal became evident after the Board of Regents approved a 4% tuition increase, along with an optional 1% increase, in July. This decision followed a new state budget that included a two-year $256 million increase for the schools. Sen. Jacque, who has championed affordability since his student government days at UW-Madison, commended UW-Green Bay for not implementing the optional 1% hike, questioning whether all other options were exhausted before increasing student costs.
A Decade of Instability: The Walker Era’s Legacy
The current tuition discussions are deeply rooted in a history of significant policy shifts, notably during former Governor Scott Walker’s administration. Walker implemented a prolonged tuition freeze, which, while initially popular, came alongside massive cuts to higher education, totaling $1 billion for the UW System and state technical colleges. Critics, such as Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, labeled these actions “election-year gimmicks” that failed students.
The cuts under Walker had profound consequences. A 2015 report by Demos and One Wisconsin Institute, titled “Wisconsin’s Great Cost Shift,” documented how declining state support shifted financial burdens onto students and families, leading to increased student loan debt and reduced affordability. The report found that these policies endangered the quality of institutions and threatened Wisconsin’s economic competitiveness. During this period, over 40,000 eligible students were denied financial aid, and Wisconsin’s ranking for graduates with student loan debt climbed from 10th to 3rd highest nationally, with 70 percent of graduates carrying debt. Furthermore, Walker’s administration opposed the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” bill, which would have allowed students to refinance loans at lower, market-based rates.
From the perspective of those managing the university, like then-UW leaders, the prolonged tuition freeze was unsustainable. It limited campuses’ ability to maintain program and course offerings, pay competitive wages to staff and faculty, and ultimately forced students to stay longer to complete their degrees due to a lack of available courses, thereby increasing their overall cost of education.
Political Flashpoints: DEI and Budgetary Battles
Recent legislative sessions have further underscored the partisan divide over university funding. In a significant move, Republican lawmakers voted to cut the UW System’s budget by $32 million despite a record-high state budget surplus. This cut was a direct response to Republican dissatisfaction with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs on campuses, with GOP leaders estimating that amount would be spent on such initiatives over two years.
Republicans stated the funds could be restored if redirected to workforce development efforts, and their plan also aimed to eliminate over 180 DEI-related positions. UW President Jay Rothman warned that these cuts would “diminish student access and affordability” and represent a “significant setback to Wisconsin’s efforts to win the war for talent.” Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Evan Goyke, condemned the cuts as sending a “painful message to communities of color” and hurting the state’s economy. Gov. Tony Evers, a former UW Regent, threatened to veto the entire state budget over the university cuts, calling the decision “irrational” given the state’s surplus.
This dispute reflects a broader nationwide cultural battle, with Republican lawmakers in multiple states proposing bills to limit DEI efforts in higher education, as noted by an Associated Press analysis. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has been a vocal critic, calling DEI “the single most important issue” and asserting that such efforts waste taxpayer money and sow racial division, rather than fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Democratic Proposals: Tuition Promise and Faculty Support
In response to these ongoing challenges, Democratic lawmakers have proposed their own comprehensive package of higher education bills. Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) highlighted the goal of ensuring Wisconsin’s higher education system remains strong and accessible to all students with talent and work ethic, emphasizing that affordability is a core “pocketbook issue” for many Wisconsinites.
A key proposal, coauthored by Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton) and Rep. Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater), aims to implement a statewide “Tuition Promise” program. This initiative would cover tuition for first-time, in-state students from households earning $71,000 or less at any UW school, excluding UW-Madison, by dedicating nearly $40 million towards “last-dollar, gap funding.” As of 2024, 37 states offer similar statewide promise programs, according to The Hechinger Report. UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee already have their own successful tuition promise programs, funded through private gifts and institutional resources, which have shown positive impacts on enrollment and retention rates.
Beyond affordability, Democrats are also pushing to support faculty and staff. Proposed legislation would reverse Walker-era Act 10 changes, allowing most UW System employees to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment. Another bill would restore tenure protections eliminated in the 2015 state budget, which faculty members then described as an attack on academic freedom. These changes are seen as crucial for recruiting and retaining talent in the UW System, especially following recent policies like mandated faculty workload requirements (24 credits per academic year by 2026) and the DEI concessions deal, which faculty argue were implemented without their meaningful input.
The Future of Wisconsin’s Higher Education
The path forward for these various proposals remains uncertain, particularly given the Republican majority in the legislature. Rep. Emerson acknowledges that public hearings on Democratic bills are unlikely but plans to engage with students, faculty, and community members across campuses to build support and lay the groundwork for potential future legislative power. The ongoing “tug-of-war” over tuition, funding, and university governance reflects fundamental disagreements about the purpose and future direction of higher education in Wisconsin, with significant implications for the state’s workforce, economy, and the aspirations of its students.
