The existing reciprocity agreement between the Minnesota and Wisconsin university systems, which says students from either state can attend a state university of the other for the cost of their home state, may be altered.
University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks would like to make a significant alteration to the agreement that could end up forcing Wisconsin students attending school in Minnesota to pay more for tuition.
The Minnesota-Wisconsin Student Reciprocity Program allows students from Minnesota and Wisconsin to attend public universities in either state and pay the tuition of their home state, according to Connie Hutchison, executive director for the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board, which manages Wisconsin's end of the reciprocity agreement.
The problem with the existing agreement, according to Bruininks, is that a Wisconsin student may end up paying less to attend school in Minnesota than a student who is actually from the state.
By the terms of the agreement, a Wisconsin student who attends the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, the largest and highest profile campus in the system, can expect to pay the University of Wisconsin–Madison's tuition, plus 25 percent of the difference between the cost of attending UW-Madison and UMN-Twin Cities, according to HEAB.
Tuition at UW-Madison comes to $4,554, a difference of $1,408 from the UM-Twin Cities' tuition. Wisconsin students, therefore, must pay $352 on top of the UW-Madison rate to attend UM-Twin Cities, according to Phil Lewenstein, communications director for the Higher Education Services Office of Minnesota.
When the math is worked out and fees are added to the tuition under the existing agreement, a Minnesota student pays $7,316 in tuition and fees to attend UM–Twin Cities, while a Wisconsin student pays $6,280 in tuition and fees to attend the same school — a net savings of over $1,000.
"That has become very hard to justify," said Craig Swan, vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota.
Evidently, some UM-Twin Cities students feel the same way.
"I think it's ridiculous," said UM-Twin Cities student and Minnesota resident Nina Petersen-Perlman. "The point of reciprocity is not to let kids from other states pay less than kids from the school's state."
"I think it's a bogus deal," said James LaBerge, also a UM student and Minnesota native. "I think it should be the same price. We all went through the same process of getting in, so it should be the same."
The current problem arises from the fact that the Minnesota-Wisconsin Student Reciprocity Agreement is different from the reciprocity agreements the University of Minnesota has with other states and Manitoba, Canada, according to Swan.
"The agreements with North Dakota, South Dakota and Manitoba are all similar to one another but different from Wisconsin, and that's the focus of (Bruinink's) proposal," Swan said.
The University of Minnesota's reciprocity agreements allow students to dodge the University of Minnesota's $18,946 non-resident tuition rate. But the agreements with the Dakotas and Manitoba treat the out-of-state student as a Minnesotan and allow him or her to pay the resident tuition of $7,316.
The Wisconsin agreement, however, treats the students as if he or she was still in Wisconsin, paying what they would to attend a Wisconsin institution plus a percentage of the difference between the two schools and not what they would pay if they were a Minnesota resident.
While the University of Minnesota has reciprocity agreements with several states and participates in the Midwest Student Exchange Program, a five-state reciprocity group, the University of Wisconsin has no other reciprocity agreements besides the one with Minnesota.
"There are some minor agreements with technical colleges and schools across the border, but those are done individually," Hutchison said.
Despite the scuffle over the reciprocity agreement, both sides were quick to iterate that the program is in no danger of being eliminated.
"The University (of Minnesota) supports reciprocity," Swan said. "It's good for the students, its good for the schools and it's good for the state of Minnesota."
Students from Minnesota attending Wisconsin schools pay Minnesota tuition.
"The reciprocity agreement is not in danger of being discontinued," Hutchinson said. "People don't have to worry about that."
