The Universities of Wisconsin today announced a plan that aims to secure $32 million withheld from it by the GOP-controlled Legislature earlier this year after the UW System did not eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The plan would use the money to fund at least 13 UW System schools’ engineering, nursing and health care, business and finance, and computer and data sciences programs. In doing so, the plan seeks to comply with the Legislature’s demand that the $32 million be applied directly to workforce development programs.
If approved by the Board of Regents this week, the UW plan would head to the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee for final approval. UW–Madison and UW–Milwaukee would receive almost $10 million over the next two years under the plan, and the other 11 universities would split the remaining $22 million. The plan would also add over 9,300 graduates in the four areas it would fund over a five-year period.Â
