GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman, alongside UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander, addressed a large budget request aimed at increasing state funding for higher education during a campus visit today.
The proposal, which recently received approval from the Board of Regents, requests a $855 million increase in funding. The goal is to elevate Wisconsin's state funding ranking from 43rd out of 50 states to a more competitive level.
According to university officials, the budget increase is intended to enhance the affordability and accessibility of higher education, attract top talent, drive innovation, and maintain the quality of education across Wisconsin's public universities.
During the press conference, Rothman highlighted the ongoing funding shortfall and its impact on the UW System.
"The universities of Wisconsin have been neglected for far too long," Rothman stated. "It's going to take public funding that is competitive to get us up to the middle in public funding per student. Every bordering state around Wisconsin is in the top 10 in terms of funding—Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa—they are all in the top 10. Wisconsin is in the bottom 10."
"We're 43, out of 50 states in terms of public funding, as over the years, as we've gone through this period of a decade plus, of a tuition freeze, declining state support on an inflation-adjusted basis, we have become more tuition-dependent. Tuition now funds more of our budget than the state does," Added Rothman. "If we get funding, that simply gets us to the national median in terms of public funding for higher education, we don't have to go to that tuition route."
With the Board of Regents' approval, the proposal will now be submitted to Governor Tony Evers for consideration in his upcoming budget proposal.
