Wisconsin lawmakers approve tuition deal with Minnesota
(AP) - A tuition reciprocity deal between Minnesota and Wisconsin has been approved by Wisconsin's budget-writing committee, sealing the deal that had been worked out between the two states.
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents and the Board of MnSCU, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, have already approved the arrangement.
The deal reached between the state's two governors in June extends a long-standing agreement allowing students to get in-state rates if they attend college across the border.
Their pact means that Wisconsin students attending higher-priced University of Minnesota schools will see a bigger number than they do now on their bills - but the state will kick in the difference in the form of a "tuition reciprocity supplement."
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Minnesota's campuses had complained that they lost millions of dollars per year under the deal because Wisconsin students paid them less than Minnesota students. Under the old agreement, Wisconsin's reimbursement went to the Minnesota general fund rather than the campuses.
The new agreement fixes that problem by requiring Wisconsin to pay the difference in tuition directly to Minnesota's campuses.
The average resident tuition in Wisconsin is $4,652, compared with $5,160 in Minnesota.
In the 2005-2006 academic year, 14,453 students from Minnesota enrolled in Wisconsin schools, while 12,542 Wisconsin students went to school in Minnesota.
The new agreement will be phased in starting in the fall of 2008.
The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee approved the deal 15-1, with Republican Sen. Glenn Grothman of West Bend voting against it. He expressed concern that the deal encourages Wisconsin students to choose Minnesota schools over ones in their home state because there's no higher cost to go there.
Committee co-chair Rep. Kitty Rhoades, who lives just across the Minnesota border in Hudson, said the deal is a good one for both states because it gives people greater choices and saves taxpayers money. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)