Freeze UW System tuition at least two more years
Scott Walker
Governor Walker will freeze UW System tuition for at a minimum two years in addition to the two years already frozen for a total four-year tuition freeze
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Running for re-election in 2014, Gov. Scott Walker promised to extend a two-year freeze he instituted on tuition in the University of Wisconsin System for at least two more years.
In February 2015, we rated his pledge In the Works.
At that point, a two-year freeze extension was included in his 2015-'17 state budget proposal. It applied to four-year UW universities and two-year UW Colleges, and would remain in effect through the 2016-'17 school year.
A memo on the proposal from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau cited figures from The College Board that compared the average four-year tuition and fees in Wisconsin to those in other states in the Midwest and Northeast.
Wisconsin's average of $8,781 for 2014-'15 ranked eighth among the 11th states listed in the memo and below the national average of $9,139.
Walker signed the state budget into law in July 2015, the day before he formally announced his run for president.
It includes the two-year tuition freeze, so we revise our rating on this Walker pledge to Promise Kept.
Email interview, Gov. Scott Walker press secretary Laurel Patrick, July 16, 2015
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Scott Walker signs state budget with 104 vetoes day before 2016 kickoff," July 12, 2015
Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, tuition freeze memo, May 27, 2015
On the 2014 campaign trail, Gov. Scott Walker promised to extend the two-year freeze he instituted on University of Wisconsin System tuition.
He pledged at least another two years of the freeze and he included language for that in his budget proposal in February 2015.
At the same time, Walker proposed creating a public authority to run the UW-System, with autonomy over tuition rates down the road.
His budget says: "Provide the public authority with control over tuition rates beginning with the 2017-18 school year, keeping tuition affordable in the short term, while allowing the public authority to plan for the future."
We rate this promise In the Works.
Wisconsin's Comeback Plan, Scott Walker campaign, 2014
State budget documents for 2015-17
Interview with Laurel Walker, Governor's press secretary, Feb. 9, 2015