Tuition rates set

Resident undergraduate tuition will increase $143 per semester at UW–Madison under a plan approved July 8 by the UW System Board of Regents.

The increase at UW–Madison, the UW System flagship university, is the lowest among public Big 10 institutions. UW–Madison resident undergraduates will pay $2,212 per semester in tuition and fees.

UW System tuition levels include an additional 5 percent increase required by state law for nonresident undergraduate students. Nonresident undergraduate tuition for the 2002-03 academic year will increase $1,027 per semester at UW–Madison.

“This year’s average tuition increases at UW System campuses are far lower than increases at comparable public institutions,” says UW System President Katharine C. Lyall. “Moreover, none of the funding generated by this tuition increase will offset the across-the-board state funding cuts to the UW System budget.”

The regents stayed within the 8 percent cap allowed by the state budget repair bill for 2002-03 resident undergraduate tuition. Similar institutions of higher education are increasing tuition at much higher rates for this fall to make up for their reductions in state support.

Ohio State University will charge incoming freshmen 19 percent more in tuition, or about $450 per semester. Student tuition and fees at Purdue University will rise $708 per semester for this fall’s incoming freshmen, and Michigan State will charge students $224 more per semester. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities will increase tuition 14 percent.

In the UW System, resident undergraduate tuition will increase $112 per semester at most of the 11 UW System four-year comprehensive universities and $139 per semester at the UW Colleges’ 13 freshman-sophomore campuses. Resident undergraduate tuition will increase $138 per semester at UW-Milwaukee.

Total tuition and segregated fees for resident undergraduates at comprehensive campuses will range from $1,730 per semester at UW-Oshkosh to $2,012 at UW-Green Bay. Resident undergraduates at the UW Colleges will pay an average of $1,451 per semester in total fees and tuition. At UW-Milwaukee, the total will be $2,177.

It is regent policy that tuition at the UW Colleges be maintained at $300 less than the four-year comprehensive campuses.