U of M ready to end reciprocity deal with Wisconsin

(AP) - The University of Minnesota is ready to end its tuition reciprocity agreement with Wisconsin starting with freshmen who enter in the fall of 2008 unless Wisconsin agrees to restructure the 40-year-old pact, school officials warned Monday.

Tens of thousands of students from both states use the agreement to attend schools in the other state without having to pay higher nonresident tuition rates.

But University of Minnesota officials say that because of the way the agreement is structured and because Minnesota's tuition increases have exceeded Wisconsin's over the years, Minnesotans now pay $1,200 to $2,700 more to attend schools in the University of Minnesota system than Wisconsin students do.

Current Wisconsin students in the University of Minnesota system and freshmen who enter this coming fall would not be affected.

But by 2011, every Wisconsin student in the University of Minnesota system would have to pay the same resident tuition rates as Minnesotans.

Minnesota officials have been seeking changes in the agreement for three years. Wisconsin officials have been reluctant to change it because they say it helps keep tuition affordable.

Talks have picked up in recent weeks, but little progress has been made, said Peter Zetterberg, senior analyst in the University of Minnesota's provost office.

"There's absolutely no misunderstanding about where we stand," he said. "Talks have been very cordial, but it's just not clear that in the final analysis a deal will be possible. We have no additional talks scheduled right now."

Officials with the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board would say little Monday.

"We are in discussions with Minnesota," Executive Secretary Connie Hutchison said. "We are hopeful that we will find a resolution that will keep the agreement intact. I am not willing to discuss anymore about this right now as our negotiations are still in process."

The threat to withdraw is included in a budget resolution that Minnesota's Board of Regents will discuss later this week and vote on June 27.

In the school year that just ended, about 6,300 Wisconsin undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students attended University of Minnesota campuses.

A change in reciprocity with Wisconsin would not affect the University of Minnesota's agreements with North and South Dakota or Manitoba.

Minnesota undergraduates who attend University of Minnesota schools would get a break under another part of the budget proposal.

After seven years of tuition hikes that doubled the cost, tuition and fees are expected to rise a modest 2.4 percent in the 2007-2008 school year, to $9,661, for Minnesotans on the Twin Cities campus whose families earn $150,000 or less. Students with higher family incomes would see a 4.8 percent increase, to $9,882.

University president Robert Bruininks will offer more details at the regents' meeting Friday.

But school officials said the plan would allow students to cut their costs by making all credits over 13 per semester free of charge.

The "13-credit tuition band" has helped improve graduation rates on the Twin Cities campus, and the plan would extend it to the Duluth, Morris and Crookston campuses. Students who graduate in four years could save as much as $20,000.

Bruininks would also adjust tuition at the Duluth and Morris campuses to be less than the Twin Cities campus, and lower the nonresident undergraduate tuition to $2,000 more per semester than resident tuition on the Twin Cities campus and $1,000 more on the Duluth campus.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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