It?s time to freeze tuition at UW schools. The same day the University of Wisconsin System president proposed a 2 percent tuition increase, we learned that the system had more than $648 million in cash reserves at the end of the last fiscal year.
If you haven?t heard, the University of Wisconsin System has a surplus. It turns out the university system, whose annual budget of $5.6 billion is about the size of Bermuda?s gross domestic product, has about $650 million in reserve funds. A Legislative Fiscal Bureau report last week revealed these funds, and it was immediately taken up by lawmakers who questioned how that much money could be sitting in reserve at the same time tuition rates have been rising.
A forum on the proposed state budget?s impact on local government Monday night settled into a discussion about the merits of the University of Wisconsin System?s $650 million in reserve funds.
Wisconsin is not the first state to question its universities? books according to Kevin Kiley, a reporter with the online publication Inside Higher Education. Kiley says other states have also assumed they?ve stumbled upon a surplus, then learned otherwise.
MADISON ? Ellie Bruecker is set to graduate next month from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shouldering about $20,000 in student loans.
It was a rough week for UW System President Kevin Reilly, after state lawmakers chewed him out for raising tuition on students while putting hundreds of millions of dollars in reserve.
WAUKESHA, Wis. ? Gov. Scott Walker began to hedge Thursday on his initial proposal to boost the University of Wisconsin System?s budget by $181 million, saying most of that money may be redirected to pay for a tuition freeze or boost funding for public schools.
The University of Wisconsin system is under fire from both parties in the state Legislature after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed it had $650 million in reserve ? including $414 million in tuition reserves ? despite annual tuition increases of more than 5 percent.
Reaction to last week?s revelation that the University of Wisconsin System has built a $648 million reserve fund has run the gamut, from hyper-critical to shrugs of indifference.
Governor Scott Walker backs off on his original plan to increase the University of Wisconsin System?s budget by more than $180 million. Backlash from revelations the system has $650 million in surplus has led politicians in both parties to call for a tuition freeze.
The firestorm surrounding University of Wisconsin System?s reported $648 million in cash assets at the end of the last fiscal year has attracted national attention.
The Legislature?s audit committee co-chairs called for a larger audit on the University of Wisconsin System following Friday?s revelation of its $648 million surplus and the frustration from legislators that has ensued.
Gov. Scott Walker and state legislators from both sides of the aisle are calling for a full University of Wisconsin System tuition freeze after a state audit revealed the system is operating with a $648 million surplus of unrestricted funds.
For the last several days, Republican lawmakers have lambasted University of Wisconsin System administrators after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau published a report showing the system is in possession of $648 million in cash reserves. Legislators have called for a freeze on tuition and a revision of UW System funding in the state?s biennial budget. They also questioned the competency of university administrators, the UW System Board of Regents and UW System President Kevin Reilly.
Local members of the UW Board of Regents say its time to have a serious discussion about how to handle future surpluses within the UW System.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is breaking with Gov. Scott Walker over funding for the University of Wisconsin System.
Democrats and Republicans in state government are uniting in opposition to tuition hikes at the University of Wisconsin in the wake of reports that the university has a substantial reserve fund from tuition revenues.
Chalk this one up under the category of, ?You Gotta Be Kidding.? Like clockwork, every year, the sprawling University of Wisconsin system pleads and whines about the penurious state of its finances and objects to the tight?fistedness of the legislature. That is generally followed by yet another announcement that tuition costs for students and parents will be raised in an amount exceeding prevailing inflation rates.
On Wednesday, UWM Chancellor Mike Lovell released a statement addressing the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee?s cash balance. He did so, in response to criticism over a state audit indicating the UW System has built up reserves of $648 million, mostly from tuition:
Is saving money for a rainy day good public policy? The answer ? in Wisconsin anyway ? appears to be based on which side of the political aisle you sit.
Gov. Scott Walker plans to ask the Legislature to freeze tuition at the University of Wisconsin in light of reports that UW has $650 million in reserves.
In 1860, Wisconsin legislators were already beginning to question whether they were getting enough out of their investment in the University of Wisconsin. State government had spent over $100,000 to build the university, and critics believed the UW “was not rendering that large and practical service to education which the state expected.” In 1864, when all but one of the senior class joined the Army to fight in the Civil War – no commencement was held – it appeared the university might be headed for extinction.
Irate Wisconsin legislative leaders are threatening to withhold funds from the University of Wisconsin and force a tuition freeze after discovering the school has quietly amassed a $650 million reserve fund unbeknownst to lawmakers.
The recent discussions over a $1 billion surplus in the University of Wisconsin System balance boiled over Tuesday as a planned discussion on the system?s Human Resources program before the state?s Joint Committee on Employment Relations turned into a heated question and answer session with UW System President Kevin Reilly.
The amount of excess cash in the University of Wisconsin System?s bank account is: A) “Nearly $1 billion” B) $648 million C) $207 million.
Tuesday?s hearing of the legislature?s Joint Committee on Employment relations was scheduled well ahead of the news late last week concerning the University of Wisconsin System?s $648 million budget surplus. The agenda was to include testimony from UW System President Kevin Reilly and UW Madison Chancellor David Ward, regarding a proposed personnel system. Given the furor surrounding the surplus though, that was clearly not going to happen.
Across Wisconsin, many of us felt the spirit of radicalism in the air during 2011. Gov. Scott Walker?s Budget Repair Bill spurned an outburst of political protests from educators, students and legislators, throwing Madison into the national spotlight. Although we are two years from the protests, the topic is as relevant as ever.
The release of a state audit that revealed the University of Wisconsin System held a balance of over $1 billion at the end of June 2012 has prompted discussion among state legislators, system administrators and campus leaders over the role of tuition dollars and cash reserves.
After the University of Wisconsin System called for a tuition increase despite holding over $1 billion in reserve funds, lawmakers have voiced plans for a possible budget reform for funding the system in the governor?s budget.
MILWAUKEE ? Gov. Scott Walker says he is not looking to cut funding for the University of Wisconsin System in his proposed budget despite a report that it has amassed a huge tuition surplus.
Gov. Scott Walker says he is not looking to cut funding for the University of Wisconsin System in his proposed budget despite a report that it has amassed a huge tuition surplus.
Now, the city and university are preparing to reconstruct the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street and Library Mall, the well-worn intersection linking the region?s most famed street and the recently constructed East Campus Mall, Bascom Hill and Memorial Union.
After University of Wisconsin officials announced plans for spending part of a $648 million surplus on Friday, the governor and state Republicans fired back by instead calling for a tuition freeze for students and condemning the system?s ?incompetence.?
The Joint Finance Committee held its final officially scheduled hearing sessions on Gov. Scott Walker?s biennial budget in Baldwin Thursday.
If Congress does not act, interest rates on a certain type of federal student loan may double, affecting more than 80,000 Wisconsin college students. But some doubt the impact on the overall economy.
Two Wisconsin state legislators visited with the Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee Monday to discuss ongoing collaboration between student and state government leaders.
MADISON ? One of China?s oldest and biggest medicine companies agreed Monday to sell only genuine Wisconsin ginseng at its 1,800 retail stores, an estimated $200 million deal that was finalized during Gov. Scott Walker?s trade mission to the world?s second-largest economy.
The Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee will be in western Wisconsin next week at Baldwin-Woodville High School to hear public opinion on Gov. Walker?s proposed 2013-15 state budget. The fate of this budget will help determine the quality of education at UW-Stout and on other UW campuses for years to come.
All things UW will be highlighted at a University of Wisconsin Outreach Day April 26 at Burlington High School, 400 McCanna Parkway. UW-Madison and UW-Extension are inviting the public to see what the system offers as part of a statewide effort to bring UW research and resources to communities across Wisconsin.
A group of about 20 University of Wisconsin students traveled to the Wisconsin Dells Wednesday to advocate for increased funding for state higher education and the implementation of a tuition cap in front of the state?s budget committee.
Noted: Walker is leading a state delegation that includes leaders of the University of Wisconsin and the heads of major companies, including Oshkosh Corp., Harley-Davidson, Solaris and Badger State Ethanol.
The Student Regent Campaign, a student-led initiative within this year?s Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee, could be signed into state law this legislative session.
Two years after a law passed restricting collective bargaining rights for many public employee unions, union membership has plunged in two major organized labor delegations, and 93 percent fewer workers received raises.
n the first round of pay increases for Wisconsin state employees since union contracts were invalidated, supervisors delivered an average 6.52 percent boost to 2,757 workers, roughly one in 14 of those eligible.
Take a look at the stories from around our area and world that are making news today.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has approved Rebecca Blank as the next UW-Madison chancellor.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents delved deeper into the details of Gov. Scott Walker?s biennial budget Thursday, emphasizing how his proposal would keep tuition down while helping to grow Wisconsin?s workforce if passed in its current form.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse says it will lose a key ally next month when Brent Smith?s term as UW System regent expires.
Some of the best thinking from the University of Wisconsin system is about to go on display at the Capitol.
Thousands of University students pack their bags each winter and hop on an AirBus headed toward the airport. Once they arrive, they disperse to 50 states and 127 countries.
Heads of each University of Wisconsin System school, the UW System president and two Board of Regents leaders expressed support for the state budget?s funding and flexibility for the system Monday.
MADISON ? A $32-million addition to Babcock Hall and a $42.8-million Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory were among the UW-Madison projects given preliminary approval by the State Building Commission March 20 at a meeting in Madison.
Rep. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, wants to make changes to the state pension system so that payments are based on an employee?s highest five years of salary rather than three.
Using state pension funds to spur economic development “does not meet our fiduciary duty,” the entity responsible for overseeing those funds, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, said late last year.
MADISON, Wis. — Ed Fallone is trying to do something that?s only happened five times in 161 years: defeat a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice.
Once again, a race for Dane County Circuit Court may largely be decided based on one candidate?s association with Gov. Scott Walker.
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly asked the Legislature Thursday to avoid capping tuition, although he assured lawmakers students would see the smallest tuition increase in recent years.
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly testifies before the legislature?s budget committee in favor of the governor?s budget proposal. ?If the governor?s proposed budget passes as is, we could see the lowest tuition increases in the UW in a decade, which would clearly be welcome news to our 180,000+ students and their families.?
The Wisconsin Energy Institute, which represents the sustainable and collaborative research it houses to find new ways to reduce and conserve energy, will open to the public in early April.
A nonpartisan Wisconsin legislative analysis agency?s report released last week brought to light a provision of Gov. Scott Walker?s proposed biennial budget allowing a state department to sell or lease state-owned properties.
