A budget proposal for the University of Wisconsin System would spend more overall in the next two years, but some new students would enroll at UW campuses with less state money backing them.
The change in the cost-per-student formula is an attempt by UW System President Kevin Reilly to convince state lawmakers that his goal of producing 80,000 new degree holders in Wisconsin over the next 15 years can be done at a lower cost per student than UW has spent in the past. Some chancellors worry that if the cheaper cost-per-student doesn?t come with more flexibility for chancellors to spend the state dollars they?re getting, they might not be able to meet the goal of producing so many new degree holders.
“Quality of education is going to go down if you do this,” UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin said. “I think we?re setting ourselves up to make promises we can?t keep to the people of Wisconsin.”