The Republican head of the state Assembly’s higher education committee wants to limit future University of Wisconsin tuition increases to no more than the rate of inflation, an idea unveiled Tuesday that comes after a decade of frozen tuitions, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The proposal from Rep. David Murphy and Sen. Andre Jacque, both Republicans, would prohibit the UW Board of Regents from increasing in-state undergraduate tuitions and fees by more than the previous year’s rate of inflation. They circulated it Tuesday for co-sponsors.
GOP lawmakers froze in-state undergraduate tuitions in 2013 but lifted the freeze in 2021, allowing the regents to raise tuitions if they so choose. The board hasn’t made any increases since the freeze was lifted, relying partly on federal pandemic relief funds to cover costs. But Gov. Tony Evers’ budget would leave the system about $130 million short of what the regents say they need to run their campuses over the next two years.
