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Category: Top Stories

UW-Madison announces cuts amid state budget and tariff uncertainties

WTMJ

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 faces 5% budget cuts amid federal funding uncertainty

WKOW - Channel 27

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.

Report: Republicans weighing $87 million cut to UW system

Wisconsin State Journal

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.

Trump policies could lead to international student decline at UW-Madison, UWM, Concordia

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Trump administration’s plans to pause new international student visas, revoke the visas of Chinese students and ban travel from a dozen countries could wreak havoc on higher education in Wisconsin.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison stands to lose the most, with about 15% of its student body coming from overseas. UW-Milwaukee and Concordia University each enroll more than a thousand international students and would also be affected.

Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them

Associated Press

Brandon Coventry never thought he would consider a scientific career outside the United States. But federal funding cuts and questions over whether new grants will materialize have left him unsure. While reluctant to leave his family and friends, he’s applied to faculty positions in Canada and France.

“I’ve never wanted to necessarily leave the United States, but this is a serious contender for me,” said Coventry, who is a postdoctoral fellow studying neural implants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin GOP lawmakers praise Trump order restricting funds for ‘gain-of-function’ research

Wisconsin Public Radio

Still, other researchers argue broad restrictions on gain-of-function research could stifle studies that could ultimately protect people from risky viruses. The University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Medical College of Wisconsin testified against the bill last year.

“Gain-of-function experiments allow investigators to understand the complex nature of host-pathogen interactions that underlie transmission, infection, and pathogenesis and can help attribute biological function to genes and proteins,” a UW-Madison spokesperson said in a statement to WPR.

UW-Madison conducts a wide range of health and disease studies, including research that helps track viruses like avian influenza. The university is assessing how the order and related NIH guidance might affect research on campus, the spokesperson said.

I Polluted the Minds of 8,679 College Graduates

Wall Street Journal

There I was, this past Saturday afternoon in Camp Randall Stadium, before a verified crowd of 48,263—8,679 of them graduates of varying undergrad and postgrad programs—trying to impart wisdom upon/pollute the minds of America’s future. Yes. Terrifying. Humbling. Disappointing to students, surely.

Graduation speakers stress bridging political divides, celebrate Women’s Hockey win during spring commencement

The Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s class of 2025 arrived Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium to celebrate the largest commencement in university history as speakers — including graduates, alumni, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Wall Street Journal Sports Columnist Jason Gay — emphasized resilience and learning to bridge political divides.

UW-Madison law grads face ‘intense polarization,’ Protasiewicz says

The Cap Times

State Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz assured law school graduates Friday that they’re prepared to face this moment of “intense polarization.”

“We are living in a time of impassioned debate about what is and is not allowed in our country, about what should and should not be allowed in our country, and those debates often take place in courtrooms,” Protasiewicz told more than 275 University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates during a ceremony at the Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center.

Heads of UW system, state agencies defend diversity, inclusion practices to audit committee

Wisconsin Examiner

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.

UW-Madison chancellor, Beloit College president sign letter opposing Trump’s interference in higher education

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two college leaders in Wisconsin signed a letter criticizing the Trump administration’s efforts to control universities and punish those that do not bend to his will.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and Beloit College Eric Boynton were among 200 college leaders nationally who signed the April 22 letter condemning government overreach.

Researchers, lawmakers look to turn Wisconsin into the ‘Silicon Valley’ for nuclear energy

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Realta Fusion, a Madison-based nuclear startup, have developed a fusion device in Stoughton that creates the same kind of reaction that fuels the sun and stars. The process is much different than fission, the nuclear reaction that powers current nuclear reactors and the atomic bomb.

Education Minnesota, Wisconsin join 19 states in suing Trump administration over canceled student visas

CBS News Minnesota

At least 40 student visas have been revoked at schools within the University of Wisconsin school system, with more than two dozen from UW-Madison alone.

A spokesperson from UW-Madison wrote, “As of April 9, UW-Madison is aware of the automatic sevis termination of 26 total records. This includes 15 current students and 11 recent alumni on employment authorization … A sevis record termination generally means that a nonimmigrant individual no longer holds lawful nonimmigrant status and should depart the U.S. immediately.”

More than $12M in UW-Madison research funding cut by Trump administration

Wisconsin Public Radio

More than $12 million in research grants destined for the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been cut by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a lawsuit filed by Wisconsin and 15 other states. Democratic state Attorney General Josh Kaul says the administration is “sabotaging medical and public health research.”

‘Challenging times here’: UW-Madison lobbies for research funding in Washington, D.C.

Spectrum News

Members of the UW-Madison community gathered Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C. ahead of their lobbying day on Capitol Hill.

“The reality is we’re certainly facing some interesting, challenging times here at the federal level,” said Craig Thompson, vice chancellor of university relations at UW-Madison. “There’s obviously potential cuts to research and other programs, and there’s just a great deal of uncertainty on campus.”

Uncertainty over visas, political climate worry prospective UW-Madison international students

Wisconsin Public Radio

Director Samantha McCabe runs International Student Services at UW-Madison. She said international students are worried about a potential travel ban, their visas and federal funding uncertainty. She is concerned recent federal actions could ultimately shrink the international student population at UW-Madison.

U. Of Southern California, U. Of Wisconsin unveil cost-cutting plans

Forbes

The University of Southern California and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are the latest universities to announce plans to trim their spending as they attempt to cope with increasing financial challenges stemming from the funding cutbacks and policy demands coming from the Trump administration.

Last Friday, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, Provost Charles Isbell Jr. and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer advised academic administrators to exercise several budget controls for the remainder of fiscal year 2025, including reducing non-essential spending on travel, supplies, equipment, and events as well as reviewing all vacancies to determine if filling them is critical. Even more significant, all UW-Madison schools, colleges and administrative divisions were instructed to develop 5% and 10% budget reduction plans for the upcoming fiscal year.