A recent analysis of the UW-Madison Data Digest noted there were 35,184 undergraduates in total on campus in 2022-23. The breakdown showed 17,703 Wisconsin residents paying $10,976 in tuition and fees; 3,114 Minnesota reciprocity students paying roughly the same; and 14,367 non-residents from other states paying $39,427 in tuition and fees. Those out-of-state students also spend money on housing, food and other needs that largely stays in Wisconsin.
If the nonresident rate is the “market rate” — meaning, there are plenty of non-Wisconsin students willing to pay it — Wisconsin resident students are being subsidized by their out-of-state colleagues. While not everyone from outside Wisconsin pays the full sticker price due to scholarships and other support, the total subsidy is at least $500 million. That subsidy is helping to keep Wisconsin campuses affordable for Wisconsin students.
Continued friction between the Capitol and the campuses sends a poor marketing message to parents, high school counselors and students outside Wisconsin’s borders. That will ultimately hurt recruitment of smart, out-of-state students who could be a part of the state’s workforce.
Third, Wisconsin’s public universities don’t exist in a noncompetitive bubble. They must compete for research dollars and faculty talent just like other state and private systems. It’s already an uphill fight in both categories; unbuilt facilities and threats of salary freezes don’t help.
Lawmakers certainly have their beefs with the UW System when it comes to DEI administration and barriers to free speech. Some campuses have far more well-paid DEI staff than student numbers would suggest are needed, according to a July report by the Badger Institute. On the “free speech” side of the equation, when was the last time a conservative Republican official of any rank showed up to speak on the Madison campus without risk of getting shouted down?