Work can begin on a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after the State Building Commission reversed course Friday and approved the long-awaited project.
The State Building Commission on Friday approved a new proposal to use unspent funds for a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other projects in the university system.
Construction proposed to begin in 2026, end in 2029.
The embattled University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering building is back on track.
The State Building Commission unanimously approved the project’s new $420 million budget during a Friday meeting, a few weeks after Republican lawmakers stalled the project last month over transparency concerns related to increasing the project’s budget.
The Wisconsin State Building Commission approved funding for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new engineering hall in a unanimous vote Friday.
Plans to build UW-Madison’s new $419 million engineering building got back on track Friday after the state’s Building Commission — which initially denied UW system’s request to reallocate millions in state funds for the Madison project and others — signed off on the transfers.
Despite losing 14 seats in the fall election, GOP legislators still feel empowered to hold the state’s largest economic engine hostage to the whims of its most petty members. Republicans on the state Building Commission ganged up on UW-Madison last week and threw another obstacle in the path of the long-awaited and already-approved new engineering building.
When UW leaders asked for $845 million, a fraction of the total amount cut from the UW budget under his watch, Assembly Speaker Vos said, “I just know that some of these numbers, where they ask for the moon, are unrealistic.”
When Vos graduated from UW-Whitewater in 1991, Wisconsin’s higher education appropriations per student were $11,028. In 2023 it was $9,277. So the “moon” was realistic when he personally benefited from taxpayer support, but is unrealistic when it is your turn to benefit?
The State Building Commission denied a motion to allow $70 million in underspent funds to be used for a series of planned Universities of Wisconsin projects including the new engineering building at UW-Madison.
The future of UW-Madison’s new engineering building, as well as other Universities of Wisconsin building priorities, is again in limbo after Republicans on the state’s Building Commission refused to reallocate nearly $70 million in state funds.
The new University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering building is again in peril.
Republican lawmakers rejected the UW System’s request to increase the project’s $347 million budget by $73 million during a State Building Commission meeting Wednesday. The ask to bump up the budget was based on increased costs and design changes, including an additional floor for business partnership opportunities.
Plans for a new, long-awaited engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison face another obstacle after the State Building Commission denied a request Wednesday to adjust funding and approve construction.
Nedweski outlined a plan to address possible inefficiencies within Milwaukee Public Schools, the University of Wisconsin, the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and law enforcement. She is known for her efforts to shut down a Kenosha Unified School District board meeting in 2021 as a member of Moms for Liberty. Nedweski and others appeared at the meeting, holding signs that read, among other things, “We do not co-parent with the government.”
The request came after bids for projects in Eau Claire came in well under budget. However, the commission shot down the request due to what Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu called a lack of transparency.
Based on assessment findings, UW President Jay Rothman foresees higher oversight involvement and visibility of the Board of Regents.
UW-Madison is adding a business partnership floor to its upcoming engineering building, aimed at opening a direct pipeline between students and the kinds of businesses that may one day employee them.
UW System President Jay Rothman defended his agency’s $855 million budget request by saying it “gets (Wisconsin) up to average” and steps up from its low ranking. Rothman is correct that Wisconsin ranks 43rd in the country when it comes to funding public, four-year universities.
Rothman’s math also adds up. Subtracting Wisconsin’s revenue per student from the national average, then multiplying it by the total number of students in the system, does total $457 million.
We rate Rothman’s claim True.
State funding for the University of Wisconsin System was one of the biggest budget battles in 2023, and it’s looking like 2025 will be no different.
The UW System is asking for $855 million from the state Legislature in the upcoming two-year state budget, which lawmakers will craft in the coming months.
Merrifield discussed her priorities, the tech system’s upcoming state budget request and how she’ll approach conversations with lawmakers in a recent interview with the Cap Times.
Republicans have long urged government to run more like a business.
Well, the Universities of Wisconsin are doing just that, under the leadership of President Jay Rothman. The GOP-controlled Legislature should appreciate and reward his effort with greater funding in the state budget.
The Universities of Wisconsin are set to fare better financially than earlier projected, largely due to sizeable increases in tuition at a handful of schools and unaccounted-for donation dollars for UW-Madison, the system said Monday.
Wisconsin state agencies have requested to spend $53.8 billion next fiscal year and $55.8 billion in fiscal 2026-27 in the state’s upcoming biennial budget.
Those are increases from the adjusted base of $49.4 billion this fiscal year with a large portion of that increase coming from the Department of Public Instruction’s $3 billion requested increase and Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $800 million increase for the University of Wisconsin System.
Habush Sinkyin said one takeaway from talking to voters on the campaign trail was that the state Legislature needs to do more to fund public schools and the University of Wisconsin System, local governments, health care and tax relief.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, who was reelected to her leadership position Tuesday, said the new districts provide “a pathway to a majority in 2026.” Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said Senate Democrats will make a renewed push to spend some of the state’s surplus on K-12 education, public universities, workforce needs and middle-class tax cuts.
The state Legislature should consider splitting UW-Madison from the rest of the Universities of Wisconsin system, according to a panel of legislators and others making a list of recommendations about the future of the UW system.
Universities of Wisconsin campuses have 1,177 more students this fall than previously projected, according to enrollment data released Tuesday.
At the same time, the Universities of Wisconsin system is calling for an $855 million state funding increase in the next two-year budget. And some expect Republicans in the Legislature will push for tax cuts.
Alobbyist organization for Madison-area landlords and property owners hoped to stall UW-Madison’s push to build a new residence hall, according to a letter to the UW Board of Regents shown to the Wisconsin State Journal last week.
There’s a lot of public discussion about how much state taxpayer money the University of Wisconsin System should receive.
There’s next to none about how that money is divvied up between the universities.
At the Coachman’s Inn just north of Edgerton, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman stood in a private dining room to make his case for why public financial support for the UW system must rise beyond its current ranking of 43rd among the 50 states.
The percentage of Black, Latino and Indigenous students in UW-Madison’s Class of 2028 has dropped, despite a record number of applications, following last year’s Supreme Court ruling that barred consideration of race in college applications.
Four University of Wisconsin System branch campuses increased enrollment since last fall, while five saw student headcount decline, according to preliminary estimates released after an outcry from media organizations and a government transparency advocate.
The Universities of Wisconsin employed about 6,000 more employees during the 2022-23 academic year than in the 1992-93 school year, despite serving a similar number of students, according to a recent analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a nonpartisan arm of the Legislature.
Gov. Tony Evers is making the rounds to pitch his funding proposal that could help keep some schools afloat amid budget struggles as he announced his 2025-27 budget will propose a more than $800 million increase for the Universities of Wisconsin.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday defended his promise to ask for at least an $855 million increase in funding for the Universities of Wisconsin during the next budget cycle.
Gov. Evers toured one of the campus dining halls before hosting a roundtable discussion with students to learn more about their concerns and how they thought that extra funding could be spent.
Universities of Wisconsin systemwide enrollment is projected to increase by just more than 1,000 this fall overall, an encouraging sign as enrollment has increased for a second year in a row after a decade of declines.
University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni donors are giving $75 million for construction of a long-awaited new engineering building.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison unveiled a $75 million gift Wednesday for a new engineering building that just last year seemed doomed to be delayed.
The Levy surname will grace a second UW-Madison building, as prolific Madison-area philanthropists Marv and Jeff Levy have pledged $75 million in support of the College of Engineering’s new building.
University of Wisconsin Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor hosted a media roundtable with student journalists Tuesday. Updates on campus initiatives, financial and housing needs and free expression were prominent in the discussion.
A lot has been on University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s plate since the spring.
Between a 12-day pro-Palestine encampment and juggling the university budget process, she’s had to carefully tread an upcoming election with a student body that has divided perspectives. Mnookin and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor sat down with campus media Tuesday to discuss free speech efforts, the affordable housing shortage and protest culture.
Newly released reports for five of Wisconsin’s public universities paint a much better financial picture than the other universities, some of whom have had their financial viability called into question.
For years, national surveys of students and families have shown the cost to attend college heavily influences where high school students choose to enroll. Educators in Wisconsin have taken that seriously.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched Bucky’s Tuition Promise in 2018. The program covers a student’s tuition for four years if the family has a household income of $65,000 or less.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman is defending a leadership decision to lay off tenured faculty as a necessary response to declining enrollment and lagging state aid.
The Universities of Wisconsin last week listed the demolition and replacement of the Humanities Building as one of its top priorities for the next state budget. The UW Board of Regents approved the request. Now Gov. Tony Evers should include it in his budget request to the Legislature next year.
Tuition and student fees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the system’s flagship campus, now total $11,606 a year for in-state undergraduates. The total cost to attend the university for a year is about $30,000 when factoring in room and board, educational supplies and other costs.
With only one dissent, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved a plan Thursday from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that will include the layoff of 35 tenured faculty members.
The board overseeing Wisconsin public universities voted to lay off 32 tenured University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professors, marking the first large-scale application of a Republican policy put in place nearly a decade ago.
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents will decide this week if they’ll ask the state Legislature for an $855 million budget increase in the next two-year budget.
The state public university system is leaning heavily on a low national ranking in a bid seeking $855 million from the Legislature.
Wisconsin ranks 43rd among 50 states in funding its public four-year universities, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. The advocacy group represents the UW System, as well as other state university systems.
President Jay Rothman said during a brief Zoom news conference Monday that his administration plans to ask regents on Thursday to approve asking for the money as part of the 2025-27 state budget. The request is only the first step in a long, winding budget-making process.
Universities of Wisconsin schools would keep in-state undergraduate tuition steady for the next two academic years if lawmakers hike state aid by $855 million of state dollars as part of the upcoming budget cycle, UW system President Jay Rothman said in a budget request Monday.
The Universities of Wisconsin’s top priorities in its next capital budget are tearing down and replacing two failing 1960s-era monstrosities: Cowley Hall at UW-La Crosse, and the towering concrete fortress known as Mosse Humanities building at UW-Madison.
Weeks before a deadline to submit budget requests to Gov. Tony Evers, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman provided a glimpse of his ambitions for increased state funding of higher education.
Federal funds received by the Universities of Wisconsin are not expected to be affected should the constitutional amendments pass.
The state Legislature has formed a study committee to discuss possible reforms and restructuring of the Universities of Wisconsin.
Following December’s deal between the University of Wisconsin System and the Republican-controlled budget-writing committee, a new committee will recommend legislation to address future plans for the UW System.
Communities that have lost a two-year Universities of Wisconsin branch campus will be eligible for up to $2 million in grants.
The state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved releasing $20 million to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for a grant program to assist communities in redeveloping shuttered campuses.
The state budget committee on Tuesday approved the release of $27 million for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to cover grants aimed at creating a regional tech hub and to help communities affected by UW shutdowns. The committee also approved money for the Department of Corrections to cover the costs of youth who are serving adult sentences.
