8/4/2009 by Wayne Nelson

The 2009 Wisconsin Legislature and Gov. James Doyle brokered a biennial budget beginning July 1 that promises an austere time for the state’s higher education institutions over the next two years.

It imposes $255 million in budget cuts over two years for the University of Wisconsin System, and an average 5.5 percent tuition increase for students on its 13 four-year campuses. UW-Superior’s share of the budget reductions over two years is $1.9 million. A $280 tuition increase will offset about $525,000 of the Superior campus’ mandated budget cuts, said Jan Hanson, vice-chancellor for admissions and finance.

Most students from low- and middle-income families attending Superior and the other four-year campuses, however, will be spared from the impact of higher tuition as a result of new financial aid available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The stimulus law includes a $619 increase in the maximum Pell Grant, as well as expanded work-study funding and refundable tax credits for working families to cover tuition and other educational expenses. The state budget also provides an additional $12.4 million to the UW System for Wisconsin Higher Education Grant program.

Meanwhile, 13,000 students attending the system’s 13 two-year UW Colleges, including Barron County in Rice Lake, will benefit from a tuition freeze for the third consecutive year.

Tuition for two semesters at UW Colleges, including Barron County, will remain at $4,268, about $1,100 less than at UW four-year campuses. The two-year campuses are the entry point for many students with limited family income.

“It’s good for the students, particularly in light of the increased funding for Pell Grants,” said Paul Chase, UW-Barron County campus executive officer.

Nevertheless, they won’t be spared from the budget pressures all campuses face. In response, UW-Barron County is reducing part-time faculty appointments and plans to cut eight class sections this fall. “It will restrict student access,” Chase said, noting it remains to be seen whether the impact on students will be mere inconvenience, or hardship.

One thing is certain: Students at two- and four-year UW campuses will find their instructors and campus support services less accessible over the next two years. The budget imposes an across the board 2 percent pay rescission for all state employees, which will mean mandatory eight-day furloughs for faculty and staff, and more days when the campuses are closed.

“You wouldn’t have been able to reach me on the Friday after Thanksgiving” because the Superior campus will be closed, Hanson said.

Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College

Meanwhile, the new state budget includes a modest supplemental funding increase for Wisconsin’s technical colleges. Recognizing the key role that technical colleges are playing in workforce development, the 2009-11 state budget raises general aid to technical colleges by 1.0 percent over two years, the first increase since 2001. That increase won’t have a major impact, however, because technical colleges in Wisconsin depend primarily upon local financing.

Shell Lake-based Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College operates four campuses in Northwest Wisconsin: Ashland, New Richmond, Rice Lake and Superior. Local government support, primarily from property taxes, will fund 71 percent of WITC’s $42.4 million general fund budget in the year that began July 1, said John Will, vice president-administrative services. Student tuition and fees finance about 22 percent of the WITC budget, he said. The state’s share is just 7.2 percent, he said, adding the 0.5 percent state funding increase this year will amount to a mere $15,000.

Predictably, a weak economy is sending more workers laid off or in fear for their jobs, along with graduating high school seniors, to technical colleges this year.

“As of July 20, our registrations are up 22 percent from a year ago,” Will said. “People are looking for new skills for new jobs. Our challenge is that as the number of students grows, tuition alone doesn’t cover the increased cost.”

Program demand from this new crop of students comes as WITC already has waiting lists for several programs. Among them: associate degree in nursing (all campuses); barber/cosmetology (Superior); HVAC (Superior); industrial maintenance (Superior); machine tool (Superior, Rice Lake); welding (Superior, Ashland, New Richmond); occupational therapy assistant (Rice Lake, Ashland, New Richmond); criminal justice/law enforcement (Rice Lake): early childhood education (Rice Lake); agriculture power & equipment (New Richmond); automotive maintenance (Rice Lake).

With the exception of nursing, these wait lists aren’t sufficient to add sections, Will said.

While all four campuses have expanded their nursing capacity, limited availability of clinic sites within the college’s service area has become the primary barrier for program expansion, he said.

Technical college placement rates help explain why fall registration levels are soaring. Before the recession hit, WITC documented a 91 percent placement rate in their field for students six months after graduation.

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