“We are all taking this hit and suffering as students,” she said.
Tuition is skyrocketing because the Legislature has dramatically cut state dollars going to higher education. Over the past three years, the amount of money UW receives from the state has fallen 50 percent. The school has eliminated hundreds of positions, cut classes, increased class sizes and frozen faculty salaries for the past two years. Under the current budget, faculty salaries will be frozen for two more years.
A 20 percent increase would allow UW to restore or increase hundreds of class offerings and expand hours or reopen the school’s writing and learning centers, said vice provost Paul Jenny, of the UW office of planning and budgeting.
Jenny also outlined a proposal to have about half the money raised through the tuition hike added to financial aid. That would raise enough money to cover the tuition increase for the neediest students as well as providing award grants of up to $4,000 for as many as 1,000 students, going beyond what the state required and helping some middle-class students, Jenny said.
The board also looked at a 16 percent increase — the amount budgeted by the Legislature — and a 22 percent increase, which would raise tuition and fees to $10,737 a year.
“Nothing about tuition increases is good, and nothing about losing the quality of education is good,” said Regents chairman Herb Simon. “At 20 percent, the middle class will get the biggest bang for the buck.”