University of Wisconsin student fees, historically used to pay for student services and activities, are increasingly being tapped by administrators to build student unions, fitness centers and student health clinics as state funding dwindles, members of the Board of Regents were told Thursday.
The fees have reached more than $500 per year at all four-year campuses and as high as $1,148 at UW-Green Bay. At the flagship UW-Madison, student fees have increased 33 percent over the last five years to $662 this year.
Regent Thomas Loftus of Sun Prairie asked for a clearer picture of how student fees have been used, the process to approve increases, and what they mean for the affordability of attending college.