UW considers tuition hikes

MADISON, Wis. -- With the prospect of state budget cuts dead ahead, University of Wisconsin officials Thursday raised the specter of tuition hikes, stricter enrollment limits and stripped-down programs.\nLeaders of several University of Wisconsin institutions told the Board of Regents that $44 million in cuts this year have their campuses strapped for cash and warned that further reductions would cut the quality of higher education.\n"I can't help but ask how yet more cuts will serve the state -- particularly the parents and their children who will feel the pain," said Phillip Certain, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters and Science.\nGovernor-elect Jim Doyle's administration is faced with a projected $2.6 billion budget deficit in the 2003-05 budget, and Doyle has warned that figure could go higher.\nUniversity of Wisconsin System President Katharine Lyall said campuses could be faced with cuts as they try to manage unprecedented demand for their services. She said applications for fall 2003 are running 24 percent ahead of this time last year, and are up at every University of Wisconsin campus.\nLyall said the numbers have put the system into a budget vise that requires campuses to "balance access, resources and quality."\nRegents received a report that showed that of the eight other public universities in the Big Ten, seven have imposed tuition increases of 10 percent or more this year, with the University of Iowa hiking tuition 19.1 percent.\nIn addition, the University of Minnesota doubled its "university fee" from $75 to $150 on top of a 16 percent tuition increase, and Purdue University instituted a $500-a-semester fee for all new students.\nWisconsin's tuition, $3,854 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, ranks ninth in the Big Ten, and jumped 8 percent this academic year. Regent Jonathan Barry predicted the state's budget troubles will lead to tuition increases.\n"Tuition is on the table," Barry said. "We've had a rather major subsidy for the upper-middle class."\nRegent Frederic Mohs said budget cuts could also trigger reductions in enrollment, something he said Wisconsin families would find objectionable.\n"The public and the Legislature needs to understand the importance of this," Mohs said. "There will be families who will consider this a disaster."\nLolita Schneiders, a regent and former state lawmaker, said University of Wisconsin officials may have to reconcile themselves to the idea that quality will suffer as a consequence.\n"Can we afford all of these high-quality programs? Maybe we shouldn't be doing it all," Schneiders said. "We don't have bottomless pockets."\nCertain said more budget cuts would have immediate, clear-cut effects.\n"There are limits to what we can do, no matter how dedicated or creative we are," he said. "I can predict with some certainty that we will no longer be able to guarantee smooth registration periods, reduced class size, the full array of course offerings or unlimited access to the most popular majors."\nTom George, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point chancellor, predicted course selections would be hurt by more cuts. "Another round of cuts absolutely will result in majors being cut," he said.\nKeith Miller, provost at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, said budget cuts forced the university to accept just 154 of 250 qualified candidates for its nursing school, at a time when nurses are in high demand.\n"We simply do not have the resources to serve those students," he said.\nRegent James Klauser said while the University of Wisconsin System faces budget problems, the total number of state dollars earmarked for its campus has steadily increased. He downplayed some of the doom-and-gloom scenarios.\n"The state's commitment is still there," said Klauser, who was administration secretary under former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson. "We have a little storm brewing. We have to batten down the hatches."\nIn other action Thursday, regents approved a policy to discourage students from taking too many credits before graduating.\nStarting in the fall of 2004, resident undergraduates who have accumulated 165 credits -- or 30 more than required by their degree programs -- would be charged a 100 percent surcharge. There are about 1,900 such students on University of Wisconsin campuses now, down from 3,300 nine years ago. The concept is designed to save taxpayers money and encourage students to graduate on time.\nMost programs require 120 credits to graduate, but some require more. Tuition covers about 35 percent of the cost of an education, with the state picking up 65 percent. Some regents raised questions about whether the requirement was flexible enough, given that some students have various personal reasons to extend their education and some have opted to get double- or triple-majors to become more marketable.\nThe system will try to come up with rules in the next year that would allow campuses to provide exceptions in certain cases. As part of the program, campuses were called on to review credit requirements for all programs that currently require more than 130 credits, with an eye toward reducing the number of credits required. And, campuses were directed to develop a program to counsel students who are accumulating large numbers of credits to help them more efficiently manage their college careers.