Marketplace Today Blog

By Ellen Gabler
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Students attending four-year schools within the University of Wisconsin system will have to pay 5.5 percent more for tuition next year if the Board of Regents passes a recommendation issued Friday from UW System President Kevin Reilly.

The tuition hike means students at UW–Madison would pay $618 more next year, and UW-Milwaukee students would pay about $359 more per year. At the 11 other four-year UW campuses, including UW–Green Bay and UW–Oshkosh, tuition would increase by about $280. Tuition would remain frozen for the third consecutive year at the 13 two-year colleges within the UW system, including UW–Fox Valley in Menasha, UW–Fond du Lac, UW–Manitowoc and UW–Sheboygan.

The regents will meet Thursday to set tuition rates for the 2009–2010 academic year. The board approved the same 5.5-percent rate increases in each of the past two years.

In a statement, the UW System said the tuition hikes are necessary to manage more than $100 million in reductions and reallocations that the school system faces in the coming fiscal year.

The UW system will also include new financial aid measures to help low- and middle-income students, according to a news release.