FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2008
MADISON, WI—The Working Class Student Union (WCSU) today called on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to reverse its 5.5% tuition increase or provide working-class students with a dollar-for-dollar match between increased tuition and their financial aid.
At UW-Milwaukee on Thursday, June 5, the Board of Regents voted in favor of the tuition hike for undergraduate students at the UW’s four-year institutions. The Regents claim the tuition increase is necessary to cover the costs associated with an under-funded state mandate that would give free tuition to veterans. The Board of Regents also cited the lack of financial support from the state in funding the University of Wisconsin system.
More than $180,000 in salary increases were also passed at the June 5 meeting, calling the tuition hike into question. The Board of Regents voted in favor of increasing the UW System President’s salary by $73,000 and the salary of UW-Madison’s new chancellor by nearly $110,000. Tuition has increased $348 per UW-Madison student, $340 at UW-Milwaukee and $265 at the 11 other four-year schools for the coming academic year, leaving many to wonder how much of that money will find its way into the wallets of UW President Kevin Reilly and UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin, instead of paying for returning veterans to attend school.
“I feel like we were lied to,” says UW-Madison junior and WCSU President Chynna Haas, “The Board of Regents have forcibly pitted working-class students against veterans so they can justify the tuition increase. Thousands of working-class students in the UW system are being sacrificed so that two individuals can each make over $400,000 a year. It isn’t fair—not to us, not to the veterans, and not to our state!”
With an economic downturn gripping much of Wisconsin, working-class students and their families are feeling the dream of a college education slipping further away. UW-Green Bay senior Jessica Knox shared, “When I first heard about the increase, I thought maybe I should just drop out. If it increases like this again I don’t know that I will be able to afford my last year of school.”
Though UW President Reilly has promised to give $70,000 of his new raise to need-based financial aid and the Board of Regents assure students that many new endowments are providing grants for them, there is still not enough financial aid, particularly for those hit hardest. Most working-class students do not qualify for “need-based” financial aid, as their families are viewed as making too much money. In reality, most working-class families cannot afford to assist their children with the costs of their higher education. As many students find out, financial aid often does not meet the gap between what a family can pay, how much a student can work, and the actual cost of college.
This is why the Working Class Student Union demands that the Board of Regents reverses its decision to raise tuition by 5.5% for undergraduate students at its four-year universities. If the Regents will not reverse their decision, then WCSU demands that they secure funding to provide working-class students with an increase in their financial aid that would match the tuition increase at their respective school. These are the only two options that will ensure that working-class students are able to remain in the UW system long enough to graduate.
No student should have to drop out of college because their university has priced them out!
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Contact
Chynna Haas /// wcsu.president@gmail.com /// 608-290-5311
*”Working Class” is a term that encompasses individuals who come from a spectrum of backgrounds, with varied educational levels, occupations, income, and geographic origins. We see class as based on a combination of factors – what kind of work people do, how much they earn, their social and economic power, their education, lifestyle, and culture. We also recognize that class is closely related to race, gender, religion, and other social categories.