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Regents Approve Lifting UW-Madison Out-Of-State Cap

Move Would Broaden Revenue Streams For The Campus

By
Shihmei Barger (CC-BY-NC-ND)

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted Friday to lift the cap on out-of-state students at UW-Madison.

UW-Madison officials said they proposed the move to address changing workforce demographics within the state, although the change would also significantly expand a revenue stream for the school at a time when it faces cuts and a tuition freeze for in-state students.

Since 2009, the percentage of high school graduates in the state has dropped 10 percent. UW System President Ray Cross said waiving the cap on out-of-state students is a way to grow the workforce.

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“If you think we need workers now, just wait 10 more years if we do nothing,” he said.

Only 15 percent of out-of-state graduates in the class of 2014 stayed in Wisconsin after getting their degree. Regent Mark Tyler said that retention rate can be improved if businesses engage students.

“I’ve heard numbers thrown around — if we bring in interns, 60 to 70 percent of those interns stay in the company,” said Tyler.

The UW system was hit with $250 million in budget cuts this year, but revenue was not mentioned during the vote. Out-of-state students pay nearly three times as much as residents to attend UW Madison.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank said waiving the school’s cap is all about boosting the state’s workforce, not about boosting revenue.

“In the face of declining high school numbers, we can’t just be doing business as usual,” she said, adding: “We have to try to put Wisconsin business in front of our students a little more directly and hope to get more of them to stay here to work.”

The university will still set aside 3,600 seats every year for Wisconsin high school graduates.