UW tuition to increase 5.5%

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The UW Board of Regents has voted to increase tuition and fees at all system campuses by 5.5% this fall.

Tuition and fees at UW System campuses will go up 5.5 percent this fall, after a vote Thursday by the UW Board of Regents.

Gov. Walker cut $250 million from the university system last year, and is taking back another $66 million in so-called lapse money. The UW says that to maintain educational quality and help more students finish college in four years, it needs to make up some of the lost state funds with by raising tuitions.

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During the regents’ meeting, regent Gerald Whitburn proposed reducing the tuition hike to 4 percent, noting there have been a string of increases at most UW campuses.

But Whitburn’s plan failed on a vote of 15 to 3. Whitburn then joined 16 other regents in backing the 5.5 percent tuition increase. The only regent voting no was John Drew, who complains that state support for the UW has been on a long decline.

System President Kevin Reilly says he and some regents will talk to Gov. Walker about reversing that trend in the next two year state budget. By that time, Walker is scheduled to be a college parent.