That's the question Noel Radomski asks in a facebook comment. The UW education policy researcher may have terminated his mayoral campaign, but he still has a lot to say about UW:
The New Badger Partnership is based on a Virginia higher reform passed in 2005, which even Chancellor Martin confirmed. Even though there's a new Virginia model since then, the main elements include providing campuses (not the UW System, as is current policy) the ability to set tuition. And, more importantly, the Chancellor's goal is to have resident undergraduate tuition to be near the median of our peer universities. That goal is a dramatic shift in Wisconsin tuition policy. Plus, we haven't received a list of which institutions make up our "peer universities." Are they private universities, which have very high tuition rates?
Good question. From what I've heard, it depends. When we compare our professor salaries to peers, it generally refers to other top public universities, including most Big Ten members and schools such as UC-Berkely, UCLA, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia. However, some of the proponents of the New Badger Partnership envision even more ambitious comparisons in the future. From WPRI:
"Unlike UW-Madison, which sees its peers as Big Ten institutions, Michigan sees its competition as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Because of its independence, the University of Michigan is able to work with this standard in mind. Also because of its independence it can charge Ivy League-like tuition to its out-of-state students. And in-state students pay a premium, compared to other top public institutions (Table 4). Undergraduate, in-state students at Michigan pay 65% more per semester than their counterparts at UW-Madison, despite higher per capita higher education expenditures in Michigan.
Kurt Gosselin, over at who Gosselin was making fun of, doesn't think higher tuition is very funny. And Radomski cautions against embracing any changes until the plan proponents tell us more:
So, before Adam Johnson, other student leaders, staff, and faculty jump on the New Badger Partnership, it may be best to hold off until the details are released. Up to this point we have received PowerPoint Presentations and soft philosophical entrities about the need to be more nimble, thus saving the state money.
If you'd like to read Radomski's entire commentary, then now would be a good opportunity to become facebook friends with The Sconz! If you do that, you can read his entire comment right here.
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