Following a showdown between the Legislature and Universities of Wisconsin over funding last winter, a new group will study the future of the state’s public universities and issue recommendations.
Last week, Gov. Tony Evers announced he’s seeking an $800 million budget increase for the Universities of Wisconsin in the state’s next two-year budget. He described it as the largest increase in state funding in the UW system’s history.
Gov. Tony Evers said he will ask the Legislature to give the Universities of Wisconsin system more than $800 million in his next budget. This would be “the largest biennial budget increase in our UW system’s state history,” Evers said.
The announcement comes a day after the regents voted on their annual operating budget, which leaves seven universities with budget shortfalls for the upcoming year and has the UW system propping up one of its schools, UW-Oshkosh, after it became the first in UW system history to deplete its savings and run a cash shortfall in the millions.
One university has completely depleted its unrestricted reserves — a first in UW System history — that will require the UW System to step in and loan some of its own reserves. And some of the universities projecting to close their deficits in the coming year still need to make “substantial” cuts to achieve that goal, UW officials told the UW Board of Regents at a Thursday meeting on the UW-Milwaukee campus.
The University of Wisconsin System’s chief diversity officer has resigned after a year on the job and amid Republicans’ targeting of campus diversity efforts.
A year of deep cuts has significantly lowered the Universities of Wisconsin’s total debt, but it’s still projected to be $17.4 million in the red through 2025, according to information shared during the UW Board of Regents meeting Thursday.
In other states, a lack of trust between those parties has led to chaotic results. In Wisconsin, the Republican-led state house held up millions of dollars in funding for the state university system over disagreements on DEI spending, kicking off a war of attrition that lasted over six months and nearly derailed the University of Wisconsin system budget.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is requesting that the state budget committee release $20 million meant to create a grant program that would support communities where a University of Wisconsin branch campus has closed.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday called on Republicans who control the state’s budget committee to release previously approved state funds set aside to aid communities facing the closure of several Universities of Wisconsin branch campuses.
Members of the Legislature’s Joint Audit Committee voted Tuesday on party lines to approve an audit of all diversity, equity and inclusion activities within the state’s executive agencies — a move that runs counter to policies and priorities laid out by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Republican lawmakers are ordering a review into initiatives that aim to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within state government.
Legislative Republicans plan to put the use of diversity, equity and inclusion positions within state government and the Universities of Wisconsin under a microscope with a new audit approved Tuesday.
In December he forced Universities of Wisconsin regents to freeze diversity hires, re-label about 40 diversity positions as “student success” positions, drop an affirmative action hiring program at UW-Madison in exchange for funding to cover staff raises and construction projects. Vos said after the deal was complete that he wanted an in-depth review of diversity initiatives across state government.
The review of how state agencies are using DEI was promised by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, after a protracted battle between top GOP legislators and the Universities of Wisconsin over programs to support people of color and other historically disadvantaged groups.
Across the country, state lawmakers are cutting funding to their most prominent public universities.
That dwindling support for higher education was the subject of a panel at UW-Madison earlier this evening – and the School of Education’s Dr. Taylor Odlewas one of the panelists.
Gov. Tony Evers announced a push Friday calling on the Legislature to approve more funding for the Universities of Wisconsin.
Evers called it the largest increase in state support for the university system in more than two decades.
Gov. Tony Evers is calling on the GOP-led Legislature to increase funding for the Universities of Wisconsin after the system’s leaders released a slate of third-party financial audits that showed half of its schools are in financial trouble.
UW system President Jay Rothman proposed the 3.75% increase last week, and the Board of Regents unanimously approved the hike Thursday at a meeting at UW-Platteville. No one spoke in opposition to the increase during the meeting.
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents on Thursday approved tuition increases that average 3.75% for the system’s 13 universities, about $387 more per year. With annual tuition and segregated fees factored in, the increase amounts to 4.4% for 2024-25, the university said.
The base tuition rate for resident undergraduates will increase by 3.75 percent. This is the second increase in two years since a tuition freeze was lifted. Tuition increased by an average of 5 percent for this school year.
Resident undergraduate tuition rates would rise 3.75% for the 2024-25 academic year, without including fees or room and board. Seven universities in the UW system are proposing even higher increases on top of the 3.75%, Rothman told reporters Thursday morning.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman on Thursday announced the intent to raise tuition by 3.75%, saying the increase is in line with inflation and is necessary to maintain the UW system’s educational quality.
Wisconsin’s in-state undergraduate students will see a tuition hike of 3.75 percent in the fall, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman announced Thursday.
The closure of two University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee branch campuses will lead to the layoffs of tenured faculty members under a policy that’s previously been applied just once.
The University of Wisconsin System wants to increase tuition for in-state undergraduates by 3.75% next school year, UW System President Jay Rothman said Thursday.
If approved, it would be the second consecutive increase for resident students after a decade of seeing their base tuition rate frozen. Tuition increased by an average of 5% this school year.
A controversial state budget deal hammered out last year for the University of Wisconsin system stoked criticism from all sides — from its original proposal, initial rejection, and eventual passage — according to nearly 1,000 pages of emails, text messages, and other communications The Chronicle received in response to an open-records request.
Another bill that took months to take shape was a deal between Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents. Vos wanted to do away with positions related to DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion. In exchange, he agreed to approve UW staff raises and building projects that were included in the state budget.
Evers, who was critical of the deal, eventually signed off on multiple components, including $700 million for building projects like a new engineering building at UW-Madison and guaranteed admission to the UW for the top-performing students in each graduating class across the state.
Renovations and buildings requested at UW-Madison included: A Camp Randall sports center replacement at $285 millionA replacement engineering building at $347.3 million Music Hall restoration at $39.8 million.
The GOP-controlled state Senate fired eight Democratic appointees Tuesday, including two members of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents who voted against a controversial deal limiting campus diversity positions in exchange for state funding.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers signed a measure that gives about $740 million in funding for capital investments to the Universities of Wisconsin, including funds for the new engineering building that rallied massive industry support.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is getting a new engineering building, a widely supported project ensnared for months in a broader political negotiation over campus diversity programs.
The Joint Finance Committee unanimously passed the measure, although Democratic members of the committee criticized their GOP colleagues for holding back the funds in exchange for restructuring the DEI positions.
One of the last pieces in a sweeping deal between the University of Wisconsin System and the state Legislature was approved Thursday, moving campuses one step closer to the end of an extended and contentious state budget session.
The Universities of Wisconsin will receive around $32 million in funding withheld for months by Republican lawmakers amid ongoing efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs on campuses.
Lawmakers approved spending millions of dollars for a new engineering building at UW-Madison, part of a funding package sent to Gov. Tony Evers that project advocates cheered as a “long time coming.”
The Legislature on Thursday approved about $740 million in capital investments across the Universities of Wisconsin, including a new engineering building at UW-Madison that rallied massive industry support.
Vos said in October the raises would not be approved until the UW System made concessions on it’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to The Badger Herald. The Board of Regents voted to accept a deal in December exchanging pay raises and other funding for the “reimagining” of certain DEI positions, according to The Badger Herald’s previous coverage of the deal.
A lawsuit filed by Gov. Tony Evers against Republican lawmakers who blocked pay raises for university employees and funding for conservation projects has been accepted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Gov. Tony Evers signed two bills, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 92 and 2023 Wisconsin Act 93, on Friday that will release long-awaited pay raises to employees of the University of Wisconsin System.
One of the legislative vetoes blocked conservation projects selected by the Department of Natural Resources. Evers also challenged a veto that blocked already approved pay raises for 35,000 University of Wisconsin system employees, but after he filed the lawsuit, Republicans and the university system reached an agreement approving raises if the school cuts back on diversity initiatives.
This estimate from the bureau included spending that has passed since June, as well as bills currently working their way through the legislature. That includes $423 million for building projects on University of Wisconsin system campuses and other items.
Republican leaders said the new estimates show there is still enough of a surplus to deliver more tax cuts.
Millions in revenue and state aid dollars could bolster the Universities of Wisconsin’s budget as soon as February, if lawmakers take up two provisions of the deal struck between UW system officials and Republican legislative leadership that gave UW system about $800 million in exchange for changes to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
A pair of Wisconsin Republicans want to give the Universities of Wisconsin $500,000 a year to ensure conservative voices on public campuses are heard.
More than a dozen state legislatures have introduced or passed bills reining in DEI programs in colleges and universities, claiming the offices eat up valuable financial resources with little impact. Last month, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted to cut back diversity initiatives in exchange for state funding in a deal with GOP lawmakers.
The Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance held a public hearing Thursday on legislation to provide funding for the UW System capital projects that were used as bargaining chips in the system’s debate with legislative Republicans late last year over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The bill would provide more than $400 million from the state’s general fund to pay for new campus buildings, renovations, additions and the demolition of aging infrastructure. The marquee project included in the bill is funding for a new engineering building at UW-Madison.
Lawmakers will bring forward a bill to fund the construction of UW-Madison’s new engineering building, among other projects, that was one of the most significant aspects of the deal struck last month between the Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
A long-running standoff over diversity, equity and inclusion in state government, notably on Universities of Wisconsin campuses, boiled over in 2023, as Republican legislators aimed to cut UW budgets before a deal was ultimately reached.
Republican lawmakers and UW System President Jay Rothman reached an agreement earlier this month to restructure diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) positions in exchange for pay raises and building projects.
Each side of the agreement still has to take steps to fulfill various promises they made to each other, a process that is expected to take years and that could face new barriers.
Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly said Wednesday she would have voted against the deal the Universites of Wisconsin struck with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
ARepublican-controlled legislative committee approved 6% pay raises for about 35,000 Universities of Wisconsin workers Tuesday after the UW system agreed last week to repurpose some diversity positions as part of a broader deal with lawmakers to unlock nearly $800 million in state aid.
State lawmakers officially approved raises Tuesday for 35,000 employees of the Universities of Wisconsin after a deal brokered and approved last week with a top Republican legislator.
The Republican lawmaker who forced the Universities of Wisconsin to commit to reducing diversity positions called Tuesday for an in-depth review of diversity initiatives across state government and repeated his claim that he has only begun to dismantle equity and inclusion efforts in the state.
UW-Madison’s chief diversity officer on Thursday tried to allay concerns that the Universities of Wisconsin is stepping back its support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, despite UW system President Jay Rothman and legislative Republicans brokering a deal that authorizes about $800 million for the UW system in exchange for DEI changes.
Backed into a corner on a deal seen as selling out students of color in exchange for state money, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents talked around the problem this week.
The UW System’s Board of Regents approved the controversial deal yesterday, in what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports was the board’s fifth meeting in seven days.
After a months-long standoff between the University of Wisconsin system and the Republican-controlled Legislature, the two parties brokered a deal to release $800 million in state funds — for long-delayed UW pay raises and key campus building projects — if the system agreed to realign dozens of diversity, equity, and inclusion positions and support several other Republican-backed priorities.
A Republican-controlled legislative committee is slated to approve 6% pay raises for Universities of Wisconsin workers Tuesday after the UW system agreed this week to repurpose some diversity positions as part of a broader deal with lawmakers to unlock nearly $800 million in state aid.
In a surprising about-face, the Universities of Wisconsin regents approved a deal Wednesday evening with Republican legislators to limit diversity positions at the system’s two dozen campuses in exchange for money to cover staff raises and construction projects.
