UW regents OK graduate tuition increases at 8 schools

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - University of Wisconsin System regents Friday approved raising graduate tuition at eight schools and out-of-state undergraduate tuition at six schools.

Resident graduate tuition will increase at Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Parkside, Stevens Point, Stout and Whitewater. Green Bay will see the biggest increase, from $7,793 to $7,996. The smallest increase will come at La Crosse, which requested an $84 increase to $8,651.

Nonresident graduate tuition will increase at all those schools except La Crosse. Green Bay will see the largest jump, from $17,106 to $17,551. Oshkosh will see the smallest increase, from $16,771 to $17,106.

The package also calls for tuition increases for a number of specialty graduate programs, including physical therapy at La Crosse and Milwaukee; business programs at Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Parkside and Whitewater; speech pathology at Stevens Point; and computer science at Whitewater.

Tuition for out-of-state undergraduates will increase at Green Bay, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Parkside, Stevens Point and Whitewater. The largest increase will come at Stevens Point, where the rate will climb nearly 3 percent to $15,402. The smallest increase will be at La Crosse. Tuition there will increase 1 percent to $15,118.

Republican lawmakers have kept resident undergraduate tuition frozen since 2013, but they haven’t limited the regents’ ability to raise tuition for nonresidents, graduate students and professional schools.

Each of the schools raising tuition provided brief written synopses to regents justifying the increases. They cited rising cost of instruction, the need to offset discounts for students who pay undergraduate tuition rates for a small portion of their graduate coursework, faculty compensation and funding scholarships.

Gerald Whitburn, chairman of the regents’ Business and Finance Committee, presented the package to the full board Friday, calling the increases “modest.” The board approved the proposal with no discussion.

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