Wisconsin residents will pay more to attend technical colleges in 2006-07, the result of a tuition increase approved by the WTCS State Board in March.

Student tuition for postsecondary and vocational adult courses will increase by 8.1%, from $80.50/credit in 2005/06 to $87.00/credit in 2006/07. Collegiate transfer credits will increase from $109.10 in 2005/06 to $117.90 in 2006/07, also an 8.1% increase.

For full-time students (15 credits per semester) taking only postsecondary and vocational adult courses, the newly approved tuition rates represent an increase of $97.50 per semester. In 2006/07 students will pay a total of $1,305.00 per semester, up from $1,207.50 in 2005/06. Full-time collegiate transfer students will pay $1,768.50 per semester in 2006/07, an increase of $132.00 over 2005/06 tuition rate of $1,636.50.

Postsecondary and vocational adult tuition growth in the WTCS was moderate through much of the last 15 years, never increasing by more than 6.5% in any year from 1990-91 to 2003-04. Tuition growth has begun to increase slightly in recent years, growing by 8.6% in 2004/05; 5.9% in 2005/05; and now 8.1% in 2006/07. Collegiate transfer tuition growth has been slightly more sporadic.

By contrast, tuition increases at the University of Wisconsin’s 2-year colleges has increased by between 7.0% and 18.5% in each year since 2001-02. In 2005-06, the UW 2-year colleges charged $165.71 per credit, 40% more than the WTCS collegiate transfer rate.

WTCS tuition is set annually by the WTCS State Board. In 2004-05, the Board established a tuition working group that is charged with considering benchmark tuition data and recommending a tuition increase to the full Board.

Wisconsin state statute requires that tuition cover at least 14% of the operational costs of postsecondary and vocational adult programs. Tuition must account for at least 31% of the operational costs of collegiate transfer programs. Cost recovery rates are estimated for 2005-06 to be 17.2% and 35.8% respectively.