AB 226

Under current law, the Board of Regents (board) of the University of Wisconsin

(UW) System may not increase resident undergraduate tuition beyond an amount

sufficient to fund all of the following: 1) in an odd-numbered year, the highest

amount shown in the appropriation schedule for the tuition appropriation for that

year in the Joint Committee on Finance version of the budget bill, the engrossed

budget bill, or the enrolled budget bill; 2) in an even-numbered year, the amount

shown in the appropriation schedule for the tuition appropriation; 3) the approved

recommendations of the director of the Office of State Employment Relations for

compensation and fringe benefits for staff; 4) projected losses of revenue caused by

enrollment declines; 5) certain state-imposed costs; 6) nontraditional courses; and

7) differential tuition.

In addition to tuition, the board charges students segregated fees. Under board

policies, there are two types of segregated fees: allocable and nonallocable. Allocable

fees support campus student activities, such as student organizations, concerts, and

lectures. Nonallocable fees support fixed obligations and programs that require

stable funding, such as debt service, base operating funds for student unions, and

student health services.

In fiscal years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13, this bill suspends the

restrictions described above. Instead, the bill limits any increase in the sum of

resident undergraduate tuition and nonallocable segregated fees during those fiscal

years to the percentage increase in the U.S. consumer price index for all urban

consumers during the previous fiscal year, as determined by the Legislative Fiscal

Bureau (LFB). However, if the undergraduate students enrolled at an institution of

the UW System approve an increase in nonallocable segregated fees for a specified

fiscal year, the board may increase nonallocable segregated fees at that institution

for that fiscal year by the amount approved, and the board may increase tuition at

that institution by no more than the percentage increase in U.S. consumer price

index for all urban consumers during the previous fiscal year, as determined by LFB.