As students around the country anxiously wait for college acceptance letters, their parents are sweating the looming tuition bills at public universities. Tuition has been trending upward for years, but debate in statehouses and trustee meeting rooms has been more urgent this year as most states struggle their way out of the economic meltdown. The College Board says families are paying about $172 to $1,096 more in tuition and fees this school year. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is in the first year of a four-year tuition increase plan aimed at improving quality. In addition to statewide tuition increases of about 5.5 percent, in-state students at UW-Madison will pay an extra $250 a year each year.
Office of Strategic Communication