UW-La Crosse nonresident, grad students to see tuitions rise next year
5 schools to raise nonresident undergrad, graduate tuition rates for upcoming year
LA CROSSE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved out-of-state and graduate student tuition increases for five schools in the system, including UW-La Crosse.
A freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition means only nonresident and graduate students tuition can go up. Based on a document from the Board’s Business and Finance Committee, undergrads will see their tuition rise by 3.7 percent or $570 up from $15,536 to $16,106 a year. For graduate students, it varies by residence status and the department, but their tuition will rise from 3.67 to 3.98 percent a year, a change of anywhere from $321 to $954.
“There is the tuition freeze that is politically very popular, but in practicality it makes it very difficult for us at the university,” said UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow. “When we have tuition frozen for the vast majority of our students and a big cut in state support, that makes it very difficult to maintain the quality of what we do.”
Gow said they’re trying to make up for $250 million budget cuts, $3.5 million which affect UW-L, from the most recent state budget.
“With that big cut we’ve had to eliminate 46 positions so we’re trying to preserve what we have because all of the positions serve our students very well.”
The tuition increases are expected to raise $500,000 for UW-La Crosse.
First year graduate student Andrew Quaschnick, who pays about $20,000 dollars a year in tuition, said he understands the challenge the university’s facing and he’s fine paying a little bit extra. “But there are probably quite a few students that are maybe fine doing it, but don’t actually have the ability to pay more money.”
He said despite the tuition increase, he’s not going anywhere.
“No I would not, I’m already here. I’ve already paid in $20,000,” Quaschnick said. “I would not consider leaving but for new students coming in it’s a much harder choice to draw.”
