Walker considering freezing UW tuition rates

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MADISON - After years of high increases, Governor Scott Walker says he’s considering either a freeze or a new cap on UW tuition, in order to keep it affordable.

According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the Republican Walker brought up the subject last week when he spoke at a school in Milwaukee which gets tax-funded vouchers to teach low-income kids. The governor said he’s considering several options for his next two-year state budget proposal, which he’ll submit to the Legislature in February. Besides a tuition cap, higher state aid to the UW is also being considered.

Walker said he still wants the UW System to grow, and keep having the programs and courses it wants to offer. State aid has not kept pace with rising university costs for a number of years. As a result, average tuitions at the 26 UW schools have gone up by five-and-a-half percent in each of the last five years – and even more in the eight years before that.

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