The University of Wisconsin System had braced for a state budget cut. Instead, UW institutions are poised to get more money than they have in recent years — but the cash comes with some strings.
But most notably, he cited the impacts. The funding cuts have marred efforts to train 24 school psychology graduates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who were set to work in high-need schools after graduation. Although 19 students were on track to graduate, the university projects a loss of more than $2.8 million. That funding loss, the institution warned, means some students may not be able to finish their degrees or afford to work in the schools once they graduate.
The budget deal includes $14 million in municipal service payments — payments from the state for police, fire and waste removal services provided to state facilities by local governments — a significant chunk of which will go to the City of Madison. It also includes $194 million for projects at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is in Roys’ district.
Gov. Tony Evers, Assembly Republicans, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats say they’ve reached a bipartisan deal on the next state budget.
The announcement comes just hours before the legislative committee that writes the state budget is set to vote on funding for a slew of government agencies.
Gov. Tony Evers, Assembly Republicans, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats say they’ve reached a bipartisan deal on the next state budget.
The announcement comes just hours before the legislative committee that writes the state budget is set to vote on funding for a slew of government agencies.
Wisconsin legislative Republicans and Governor Tony Evers have reached an agreement on the 2025-2027 state budget, delivering nearly $1.5 billion in tax cuts alongside investments in education, infrastructure, and childcare.
A recent survey by the Institute for Research on Poverty at UW-Madison shows 90% of Wisconsinites, including those without kids, said finding affordable, high-quality child care is a problem in the state.
Gov. Tony Evers and Republican and Democratic legislative leaders have reached a tentative agreement on the 2025-27 state budget, agreeing to invest hundreds of millions in the University of Wisconsin system, to create new grant and payment programs for child care facilities, further boost investment in special education and cut $1.3 billion in taxes.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republicans who control the state Legislature announced a deal Tuesday on a new two-year budget that cuts income taxes, increases funding for the Universities of Wisconsin despite a threatened cut and raises fees to pay for transportation projects.
A tentative bipartisan deal between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the state Legislature calls for billions in new spending on public schools, child care and state universities, along with income tax cuts worth more than $1 billion.
Like other universities across the country, the University of Wisconsin-Madison isn’t immune to growing financial pressures from federal funding cuts, changes and delays.
Over half of the 18 universities in the Big Ten have announced some kind of belt-tightening measures in recent months, as President Donald Trump’s administration has altered or slashed federal funding for research and higher education.
Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the Legislature have reached a budget agreement that could give the Universities of Wisconsin its biggest boost in two decades, increase how much the state reimburses school districts for special education and continue subsidies for the state’s child care industry.
Under the deal, the UW system will get $256 million in new state aid that must be allocated under two new formulas that prioritize stabilizing campuses with declining enrollment and rewarding campuses for the number of credit hours that students complete.
Leaders in the state Capitol announced with hours to spare before the dawn of a new fiscal year that they had reached a tentative agreement on key elements of the state budget, including Medicaid funding, special education, childcare and the University of Wisconsin System.
In the end, at around 10:30 p.m., the committee began its meeting but scrapped votes on the most controversial areas of the budget, like the University of Wisconsin System, Medicaid funding, and whether to close the Green Bay Correctional Institution. Those areas are scheduled to be taken up Tuesday, July 1 — a day before the full Legislature is set to vote on the new budget bill.
It did not take up funding for the Universities of Wisconsin system, which has been a sticking point in negotiations between Gov. Tony Evers and legislative Republicans. Evers has requested $856 million while Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, says he wants to cut $87 million.
Materials engineering programs typically have dozens of students, not hundreds. To put this into perspective, however, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an average of just 10 job openings per year for neurologists in Wisconsin. Hopefully, no one would suggest that UW-Madison should stop training neurology residents, since most of us recognize that medical specialists are essential to the kind of society we want to have.
The state Legislature’s finance committee is scheduled on Friday, June 27, to take votes on the 18 remaining areas of the budget that have yet to be written.
The expected work comes after the committee canceled a planned set of votes on key areas, including funding for the University of Wisconsin System, amid an impasse that materialized between the two Republican caucuses and Evers.
If legislators truly want viewpoint diversity and top talent to help Wisconsin citizens earn a college degree and achieve a better future, they should begin by paying UW System faculty at least an average salary. Not by cutting the UW System budget even more than they have already.
The Marquette survey also found most respondents favor keeping funding for state universities flat or reducing it. Among all registered voters, 49 percent said Universities of Wisconsin funding should be kept the same, 27 percent said it should be increased and 23 percent said funding should be reduced.
While the UW system requested an $855 million increase in state funding in its budget request, Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly have endorsed cutting it by $87 million over the next two years.
And it appears any increase in state aid for Universities of Wisconsin campuses will be a hard sell. Across the board, 49% support keeping funding steady, with only a slight majority of Democrats favoring increasing state aid.
The UW system and Evers asked for an increase of $856 million for the next budget, but Republicans last week hinted they were considering an $87 million cut. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said the other sides’ proposals are non-starters for them.
Evers said discussions about the funding for the University of Wisconsin had included “a positive number” though he wouldn’t go into details. Last week, Vos said his caucus intended to cut $87 million from the UW system.
The University of Wisconsin System has seen an increase of staff and salaries over the past 10 years while student enrollment has dropped by 16,000, according to an audit released by the chairs of the state audit committee.
Academic staff grew 33.4% with a 97.4% increase in salary costs over that time while limited appointees rose 39% with a 78.3% increase in salary costs.
Advocates for higher education say it’s the wrong time for lawmakers to be considering a funding cut for Wisconsin’s university system.
Republicans in the state Assembly are floating the idea of slashing $87 million from the Universities of Wisconsin as part of the biennial budget. Last week, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters that he supports the cut, citing concerns about “too much political correctness” within the university system.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Milwaukee are cutting costs over the next school year amid financial uncertainty at the federal and state level.
UW-Madison told schools and colleges to shave 5% of their 2026 budget. The administration and other units must trim 7%. Some exceptions may apply depending on a division’s financial circumstances.
University of Wisconsin-Madison schools and colleges will reduce their base budgets by 5%, and administrative units will reduce their budgets by 7% amid federal reductions and uncertainties about state funding, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin announced Monday.
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin noted in a Monday message to UW–Madison faculty and staff that both the above issues factored into the base budget reductions of 5% that schools and colleges will be required to implement for next school year. Administrative and all other units that receive 101 funds will reduce their fund 101 base budgets by 7%.
UW-Madison announced on Monday that schools and colleges will be required to cut their budgets by 5% of their allocation in fiscal year 2026.
Deans and vice chancellors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will have to make tough choices in the coming weeks. University leadership on Monday announced budget cuts for the next financial year.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is cutting its budget due to ongoing financial uncertainties stemming from changes to federal funding.
Schools and colleges will face a 5% base budget cut for fiscal year 2026, while administrative units will see a 7% reduction. These cuts are part of efforts to protect the university’s financial viability amid risks like potential federal funding changes and grant terminations.
UW-Madison leaders are telling all departments to reduce their budgets by at least 5% amid a flurry of federal changes shaking up higher education and now further uncertainty surrounding the state’s budget.
Facing funding cuts from the Trump administration and uncertainty from the Wisconsin Legislature, the leader of the state’s flagship university directed all departments Monday to cut their budgets between 5 percent and 7 percent next year.
While the program was set to end in January 2024, Evers kept it afloat with emergency funding through June 2025.Evers has never vetoed the state budget in full, but he has threatened to do so in previous years over issues like funding cuts for the University of Wisconsin System.Evers said negotiations over UW System funding levels this year are going in the “right direction” but didn’t reveal specifics, other than, “it’s a positive number.” Last week, Vos confirmed his caucus would support an $87 million cut.
The leader of Wisconsin’s 13 public universities said without additional funding in the next state budget, he expects more branch campus closures, decreased affordability for students, layoffs and program cuts.
“All of which will hit hardest at our most vulnerable UWs,” Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said on social media this week.
One in four Wisconsin child care providers could close their doors if the state support for centers ends in June, according to a survey of child care providers commissioned by the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) and produced by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Assembly GOP leaders said they’ve had “productive conversations towards a budget that cuts taxes, puts more money into K-12 schools to stave off higher property taxes, and funds childcare and the university system in exchange for meaningful reforms.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said his caucus supports cutting $87 million from the UW system, but wouldn’t say if that’s the final proposal the budget committee will take up. The system has said it needs additional funding and Evers had requested $855 million in his proposal for it. Vos says Republicans want “reform” of the UW for the “broken process that we currently have.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters Wednesday afternoon the Republican caucus supports a roughly $80 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System budget, saying the reform is needed to fix the “broken” process currently in place.
“The income tax proposals cost the state a fair amount of money, but it’s not a huge share of the state budget,” said Ross Milton, an assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “The flip side of that is that the impacts to any given household in Wisconsin in terms of how much money they’ll save on income taxes are pretty modest.”
Republicans who control the state Legislature are considering cutting funding to the University of Wisconsin System by $87 million as they build a new two-year state budget that may require Democratic votes to pass.
Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee may deal the Universities of Wisconsin the system’s biggest cut in nearly a decade, to the tune of $87 million.
The cut was first reported by Civic Media on Monday night. By contrast, the UW system had requested an increase in state aid of $856 million. The committee had been slated to take up the UW system’s budget on Tuesday but punted it for unspecified reasons.
GOP lawmakers also delayed a vote on the Universities of Wisconsin budget which had been scheduled for Tuesday. Evers’ budget called for about a $700 million increase in state funding for the UW system.
Democratic lawmakers told reporters Tuesday they’d heard Republicans were considering cutting funds to the UW system. The GOP cochairs of the budget committee did not comment when asked about that prospect.
Lawmakers writing the state budget delayed a vote on the University of Wisconsin System, with Republican legislative leaders declining to explain why.
Committee co-chairs Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, wouldn’t elaborate on why the vote was pulled from the June 17 schedule.
Evers said in a statement that he had agreed to support Republicans’ half of the deal including their top tax priorities, while Republicans could not reach consensus within their caucuses to back the governor’s proposals, including funding increases for K-12 education, child care and the University of Wisconsin System.
An Evers spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the June 12 vote.
The Board of Regents, which oversees UW-Madison and the state’s 12 other public universities, is set to hear a proposal Thursday that would increase UW-Madison’s undergraduate application fee from $70 to $80 starting in August.
The University of Wisconsin System alone is seeking $855 million from the state Legislature in an effort to make branch campuses more viable and avoid tuition increases for in-state undergraduate students for the next two school years.
Leaders of Wisconsin colleges and universities are speaking out against pending cuts to federal financial aid after they cleared a major legislative hurdle.
The Universities of Wisconsin system would have to provide students with around-the-clock access to virtual mental health providers under a new Republican proposal.
Wisconsin college leaders say potential changes to federal financial aid would put higher education out of reach to more students and make college more expensive.
Wisconsin’s four-year university system receives less state funding and tuition than nearly every state in the nation, according to the latest study of higher education funding.
The Universities of Wisconsin ranked 44th out of 50 states in public funding in 2024 — a drop of one spot from 2023.
Nearly 800 business leaders and organizations have signed a letter urging state lawmakers to increase funding for the University of Wisconsin System.
The letter pulls a page from UW-Madison’s playbook. The university in 2023 gathered signatures from dozens of business leaders who supported an engineering building Republicans held up in the previous state budget and shared their support in a statewide campaign.
Wisconsin’s technical colleges get about 70% more in-state aid per full-time student than the Universities of Wisconsin get for one of theirs, new data shows.
The ongoing gap is a talking point the UW system has used for years to lobby for more state funding.
Evers and Republicans have been talking about a tax cut plan they both could support but have not released details. Republicans argue that most of the state’s roughly $4 billion surplus should be returned as tax cuts rather than used to support spending on K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin and other state programs.
Wisconsin Public Radio has, in varying forms, been an essential part of this state’s media landscape for more than a century. PBS Wisconsin, with roots tracing back to the early days of WHA-TV, has been just as essential for the past 70 years.
The UW System has repeatedly requested the Legislature to fund a program to cover tuition and fees for students whose family incomes fall below a certain threshold. UW-Madison already offers a tuition promise program and funds it without state taxpayer money.
Republican-ordered audits found April 11 determined Wisconsin state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System failed to track millions of dollars spent on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts during the 2023-24 fiscal year — making it difficult to fully assess the efforts which have been under review due to recent federal orders.
The audits released by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau showed the Universities of Wisconsin and state agencies have failed to track millions of dollars spent on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
President of the Dane County NAACP chapter Greg Jones was the only member of the public to testify at a Joint Audit Committee hearing Tuesday on two recent audits into the diversity, equity and inclusion practices of state agencies and the Universities of Wisconsin. His message to lawmakers was simple: listen to individuals’ stories about the impact of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and stay away from politicized attacks on DEI.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman continued to push for an increase in state funding, defending the system’s 2025-27 biennial budget request at a committee hearing Thursday while impending federal funding cuts cast a long shadow over higher education in Wisconsin.
In a column published in the Wisconsin State Journal, Mnookin addressed the recent visa terminations of UW-Madison students and alumni. As of Tuesday, the university is aware of the termination of 27 total records, which includes 15 current students and 12 alumni.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin discussed the many issues facing the university, including concerns over federal investigations, funding cuts, and international student visa revocations, as well as the 2025 state budget cycle.
