Overview
- The Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday in Milwaukee on a proposal to raise in-state undergraduate tuition by 2 percent for the 2026–27 academic year.
- Universities of Wisconsin leaders say the tuition increase would generate about $21.9 million that would be used for core operating costs and a 2 percent wage adjustment for employees.
- The plan also calls for an average 3.5 percent increase in segregated student fees, which the system says would lift the combined estimated cost of attendance by about 2.5 percent.
- Republican lawmakers have publicly attacked the proposal, accusing UW leadership of passing payroll costs to students and pointing to growth in nonfaculty administrative jobs, while students describe added work hours, reduced credits, higher borrowing, and mental strain.
- If approved, this would be the fourth straight year of tuition hikes since a decade-long freeze ended, a trend that could shape upcoming state budget negotiations and scrutiny from the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.