New Data Shows that State Residents' Per-Pupil Taxpayer Funding for Tech Colleges is Greater Than Universities

Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(By Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) As lawmakers consider the next round of spending on higher education in Wisconsin, new data shows per-pupil taxpayer funding for state technical colleges is more than twice as high as it is for state universities.

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsin Public Radio, at the same time, the University of Wisconsin System says 10 of its 13 universities have structural deficits ranging from millions to tens of millions of dollars.

The data comes from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's, or SHEEO, higher education finance report. It shows Wisconsin taxpayers at the state and local level spent $13,956 per full-time-equivalent, or FTE, student at two-year technical colleges and $6,227 per FTE student at state universities.

Much of the funding for the state's technical colleges comes from local property taxes, whereas universities have no local taxing authority. When compared to other states, the gap between public funding for two-year schools and four-year universities in Wisconsin was the third largest in the nation.

Only New Hampshire and Arizona had higher shares of public funding going to two-year schools. When combined, Wisconsin taxpayers spent $9,510 per FTE student in 2022, regardless of where they enrolled.

That's below the national average of $10,237 per student and places Wisconsin 29th in the United States. Illinois taxpayers spent $22,970 per student, though the report notes that's largely driven by efforts to address an underfunded pension system for university employees.

Michigan and Minnesota were virtually tied just ahead of Wisconsin with $9,909 per FTE and $9,802 respectively. UW System President Jay Rothman tweeted data from the report Thursday morning, as members of the state Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee put their touches on Wisconsin's next state budget.

Rothman's tweets focused on the funding difference between the UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System. He noted state funding levels for public universities in Wisconsin ranked 42nd in the nation.

SHEEO's data shows Wisconsin's spending on two-year colleges was the fourth highest in the nation. During a Thursday press briefing, Rothman repeated his call for more funding, saying Wisconsin is in a war for talent.

He said the state needs more nurses, engineers and other skilled workers and the UW System is the best "talent magnet" the state has. Data provided to Wisconsin Public Radio by the UW System shows most state universities have projected budget deficits through fiscal year 2023.

UW-Milwaukee topped the list with a projected deficit of $18.8 million. UW-Platteville came in second with a projection of $6.5 million in the red and UW-Green Bay was third with a projected deficit of $6.3 million.

The only campuses without projected deficits were UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout. A number of state universities have gone into the red in recent years. That's due in large part to state lawmakers taking away the UW System Board of Regents' ability to increase residential, undergraduate tuition rates in 2013.

Then, in the 2015-17 state budget, Republican lawmakers and former Gov. Scott Walker approved a $250 million cut to the UW System's budget. Those factors and precipitous declines in enrollment forced many UW campuses to outsource things like custodial staff, offer retirement buyouts to faculty and spend down tuition reserves to make ends meet.

Between 2015 and 2021, the number of UW faculty across the state declined by 891, according to UW System data. The number of employees listed as university staff fell by 2,845 during that same period.

The tuition freeze was in place until lawmakers lifted it in 2021. Regents raised in state, undergraduate tuition by an average of 5 percent in March. Rothman said universities do have fund balances they can pull from to backfill their deficits.

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