Audit: UW Tuition Revenue Grew $366.6M Over Last Decade

A new audit says tuition revenue at University of Wisconsin System schools grew $336.6 million over the last decade.

The report from the Legislative Audit Bureau found tuition revenue grew from $933.4 million in fiscal year 2008-09 to $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2017-18. Resident tuition grew from $125.4 million to $276.3 million. Nonresident tuition increased from $808 million to $1.04 billion.

State Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, serves on the state Assembly’s Committee on Audit and Committee on Colleges and Universities. She said it’s important to note where the majority of the increases in tuition revenue are coming from.

“I think when we’re looking at the numbers of tuition dollars, it’s important to recognize that international students and out of state students are paying higher tuition fees,” said Shankland. “So, you really are comparing apples to oranges when it comes to that.”

The report also found resident enrollment declined by 12,881 students from academic year 2008-09 to academic year 2017-18. Nonresident enrollment, meanwhile, increased by 10,558 students. Shankland called the decrease in the number of residents going to UW System universities and colleges concerning.

The system’s unrestricted balances stood at $1.3 billion as of June 30. Unrestricted balances refer to money left after all expenses were paid as of that date. System and campus administrators have discretion to spend that money.

Auditors found that UW-Oshkosh has increased student housing fees over the past 10 years despite having a $7 million program revenue balance that could have been used to offset room rate increases.

A statement from UW-Oshkosh sent to WPR by spokeswoman Mandy Platt noted that part of that $7 million revenue balance was from a transfer of $5 million from a residence life department aimed at helping the campus address budget issues.

“Our decision to transfer the funds is an essential part of UW Oshkosh’s Financial Recovery Plan, which enables the University to meet its projected budget shortfall. UW Oshkosh engaged the vice chancellors, cabinet and students in a detailed review of the transfer, and all groups concurred that it was a necessary and essential action to achieve the Financial Recovery Plan. At the 2019 February Board of Regents meeting, UW Oshkosh presented the transfer request to the Board, and it was approved,” the statement read.

The audit also found that the UW-System “did not ensure appropriate policies and guidelines were established for some areas of its new personnel system.”

In 2011 lawmakers passed Wisconsin Act 32 which required new personnel systems for UW System employees. Auditors found that some campus policies did not comply with the UW System Administration policy and other campuses didn’t even have published guidelines.

State Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem, serves is a co-chair of the Committee on Audit. She said the lack of a standard human resources policy across the system is a problem.

“When you look at it they’re not applying things uniform across all the campuses across the state and it’s frustrating to me that one campus would have their policy one direction for a faculty member and then at a different institution it would be completely different,” said Kerkman.

She also said lawmakers have given the UW System millions of dollars to upgrade human resources systems over the past decade.

“And now they’re already coming forward and saying they need more resources for a system that we’ve already put $80 million into,” said Kerkman. “It’s a huge chunk of dollars that isn’t going into teaching our students. That’s the thing that upsets me the most.”

State Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Greenville, chairs the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities. He said the audit shows that while some UW campuses are applying the best financial practices, others have a long way to go.

“The report raises important questions about implementation of previous audit recommendations, particularly those related to UW institutions’ relationships with outside organizations,” said Murphy. “I’m looking forward to hearing more from the auditors and UW leaders about progress being made to responsibly manage funds collected from students and taxpayers. Above all, my hope is to restore the public’s faith in how money is being spent by our universities.”

UW-System Spokesman Mark Pitsch sent a statement to WPR saying that the System remains committed to offering world-class education to develop the future workforce needs of the state of Wisconsin. He highlighted the audits findings that out-of-state enrollment shows the system is working to attract new talent to Wisconsin.

“Additionally, the UW System appreciates the recommendations made regarding the reporting of Program Revenue Balances to continue to improve transparency,” said Pitsch. “Finally, improving the management and transparency of the relationships with primary foundations, real estate foundations, and other affiliated organizations is an ongoing effort the UW System and the Board of Regents takes seriously. We have completed nine of 12 previous Legislative Audit Bureau recommendations and continue to make progress on others.”

Kerkman said she looks forward to having more detailed discussions with UW System officials. An audit hearing will be forthcoming, she said, but could be delayed as lawmakers debate the next state budget.

Editor’s note: This story was updated with original WPR reporting.