UW Asks Wisconsin Taxpayers for 34% Funding Increase

The University of Wisconsin launched the opening salvo of the 2025-27 Wisconsin State Budget debate last week with its $855 million funding increase request.

Gov. Evers initiated the budget process in June when he issued budget guidance to state agencies on June 7, 2024. The agency budget requests are due on Monday, Sep. 16, 2024. Agencies were basically instructed not to ask for any additional funding, except for the UW System. University leaders saw that as their opportunity to go for broke.

According to the current 2023-2025 state budget, the UW-System is getting $13.74 billion (All-Funds) for its operations. State taxpayers are directly providing $2.49 billion of that amount through general purpose revenue (GPR). Those are the real numbers in the two-year budget, but that’s not how the state calculates the baselines for the next state budget. Instead, planners only consider the second year’s level of funding and double it. This is called "Base Year Doubled." The resulting amount might only exist on paper, but it provides a point of reference for each agency’s level of funding in the next budget.

Therefore, on paper, the university is getting $2.53 billion (GPR) and $13.77 billion (All-Funds) in the current budget. University of Wisconsin president Jay Rothman thinks taxpayers should be coughing up a lot more than $2.53 billion, no matter how much the university is collecting from other sources. Last week, he announced he wants an additional $855 million (GPR) in the next state budget. That would make for a total of $3.39 billion, a whopping 33.8 percent increase.

For Rothman, it’s all about keeping up with the Joneses. He cited a report that ranked Wisconsin 43rd for taxpayer support for four-year institutions.

“It’s time Wisconsin escapes the Bottom 10 in public funding and gets Up to the Middle,” Rothman said.

Pointing only at public funding and only at four-year institutions is a very specific angle from which to be examining the university’s level of funding. By doing so, Rothman was able to avoid mentioning that that same report had Wisconsin ranked 5^th in taxpayer support for two-year institutions. Also, when considering all funding sources at both two-year and four-year campuses, Wisconsin ranks 26^th in the nation for taxpayer support of higher education. Right in the middle. Regardless, Rothman wants the university’s level of taxpayer funding to go “Up to the Middle,” too.

One of Rothman’s main complaints was the tuition-freeze that the legislature imposed on the UW-System ten years ago, after discovering the university had accumulated a $1 billion slush fund while increasing tuition year-after-year. At the same time, Rothman argued that the price of attending the university has become unaffordable for many undergraduates. Therefore, some of the additional funding would go towards the “Wisconsin Tuition Promise.” Under that program, undergrads whose parents make less than $55,000 a year get free tuition at the university. Fees are also waived. Rothman wants to increase the income threshold to $71,000.

Most of the $855 million increase, however, would support UW employee pay and benefits. Under Rothman’s plan, all employees would get a 5% raise next year and a 3% raise the year after that, plus sizable merit-based raises as well. He also wants state taxpayers to pick up a larger share of employees' benefits package.

Rothman categorized his increase requests as:

• Ensuring Quality: $203 million
• Increasing Affordability: $129 million
• Preserving Accessibility: $270 million
• Developing Talent: $84 million
• Investing in innovation: $69 million
• Standard Budget Adjustments: $100 million

There is a lot of overlap in those categories, which clouds the picture. For example, “Increasing Affordability” and “Preserving Accessibility” both include programs that cover tuition. “Developing Talent” is the vaguest category, including goals for student retention, career readiness, and “civil dialogue training.” It’s also important to point out that these are not the total amounts being requested. These are just the increases over the baselines, which were not included in Rothman’s presentation.

Despite the many problems with Rothman’s request, the Board of Regents approved everything on Thursday, Aug. 22^nd. It will now go to the Governor to be included in his budget request to the legislature.

The Governor is expected to give his budget address in February. That is typically followed by agency briefs in March, public hearings around the state in late-March or April, and JFC executive hearings beginning a couple of weeks after that. In late-June the Assembly and Senate approve the budget. Then the Governor issues his vetoes and signs the budget into law. The next state fiscal year begins on July 1^st, but funding will continue under the current budget’s levels if the new budget is not finished by then.

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