The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has approved a surcharge on students from upper income families. Under the terms of Chancellor Biddy Martin's Madison Initiative for Undergraduates , students from families earning in excess of $80,000 a year will pay a $250 annual surcharge for each of the next four years, at which time the one thousand dollar surcharge will become permanent. Out-of-state students will pay $750 annually, with their surcharge eventually totaling three thousand dollars.
Money raised by the tuition fee will go towards restoring about 275 faculty positions and additional instructional support that had to be eliminated in recent years, and to supplement financial aid for low and moderate income students. Republicans in the state legislature have attacked the proposal, which the Regents approved unanimously with one abstention. In a press release, Martin says she's grateful to UW President Kevin Reilly and the Regents for supporting the plan, and that the most recent news about the state's budget makes it even more important that we build need-based aid and ensure quality.
