Higher education in Wisconsin was hit hard by the two-year state budget Governor Walker recently signed into law. While the UW System received significant cuts, legislators and the Governor made that up in part by providing for a 5.5% tuition increase for in-state undergraduates at system schools in both 2011-12 and 2012-13. At the same time, however, state financial aid grants are frozen at last year’s levels for the next two years.

Undergraduate tuition has increased steadily in recent years. Over the last ten years, tuition at UW System comprehensive schools has increased 8.5%, while that number is higher for the Madison and Milwaukee campuses. General inflation over that same period was just 2.4%.

From 2008 to 2011, funding for state financial aid grants increased by 17%, mitigating the impact of tuition increases on working families in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, there has been no similar effort in this budget to provide financial aid increases at a pace to keep up with tuition. The Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board–the entity that administers Wisconsin’s financial aid program–requested a $42.8 million increase in funding for aid over the next two years, an amount that would have allowed financial aid to keep pace with the 5.5% tuition increase. Instead, funding was set at “base level,” meaning there will be no increase over the next two years as compared to last year, despite the increase in tuition.

This coupling of increased tuition and flat financial aid funding will make it more difficult for students in Wisconsin’s working families to attend college, despite the fact that higher education is more important than ever for obtaining a well-paying, family supporting job. Increasing tuition without also increasing financial aid will push more Wisconsin families out of higher education, and will lead to increased debt burdens for students who are still able to attend.

In the next state budget, policy makers need to be more cautious about actions that can price Wisconsin families out of higher education. Tuition increases need to be limited to what families can afford, and corresponding financial aid increases that help reduce the cost of college for Wisconsin families need to be preserved.

Ben Nerad

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About the series: “31 Ways in 31 Days” is a series of posts to the WCCF blog exploring the recently-passed biennial budget’s impact on children and families in Wisconsin. Each day in July, we are posting a description of one way the budget will affect kids and families, with an eye toward what should be done going forward to help improve outcomes and move us closer to the goal of making Wisconsin a place where every child has the opportunity to grow up, learn, and thrive in a safe, healthy, economically secure home and community.