MADISON, Wis.—The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents today approved its 2027-29 operating budget request proposal.

The budget request is based on three promises the UWs are making to all Wisconsinites:

  • Ensure every Wisconsinite has access to an affordable, high-quality UW education.
  • Build Wisconsin’s workforce and next generation of businesses.
  • Advance life-saving discoveries and improve access to health care across Wisconsin.


The budget request includes several key initiatives:

  • A 4-Year Tuition Pledge to freeze tuition for the 2027-29 biennium, provided the state invests $190 million to support the cost of the freeze and other operating needs that preserve educational quality. Tuition in subsequent years would not increase at a rate greater than inflation.
  • Wisconsin Work and Learn, a last-dollar aid program for students from families earning less than the state median income in exchange for a work commitment.
  • Tech for Tomorrow and Accelerate Wisconsin, which would create 300,000 career-ready workers, upskill 1 million workers for better jobs, and create 2,500 new businesses over a decade.
  • Healthy Wisconsin, which would train 35,000 new health care professionals in the next decade.
  • Cures for Tomorrow, a proposal to advance life-saving discoveries in cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other devastating diseases.

In addition to chancellors, business leaders and students spoke to regents about the budget request.

“Maintaining an affordable UW education gives students like me the opportunity to earn a degree, build a future, and give back to communities across Wisconsin,” said Emma Close, a UW-Whitewater student, in addressing affordability. “UW-Whitewater has given me an opportunity, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.”

Speaking about workforce development, Brian Elwood, regional vice president of Xcel Energy, said seven of his eight direct reports are graduates of a UW university, “all from different campuses, different communities, different degrees but part of a university system that develops leaders who work here, who stay here, who raise their families here, and who are committed to our communities.”

Nicholas Galich, vice president at Froedtert South, said the Healthy Wisconsin proposal would help patients and local communities.

“When we recruit students from our communities, educate them locally, provide their clinical experiences locally, and connect them with local employers, we create a much greater opportunity for those individuals to remain in Wisconsin after graduation,” Galich said. “That creates a workforce development cycle that can benefit our state for decades.”

Lindsay Loohauis, a UW-Platteville senior and U.S. Army veteran, said a proposal related to veterans tuition remission would help veterans challenged to attend a UW university.  

“Veterans do not have it easy,” she said. “Many of us have real life adult responsibilities by the time we start school… We are also trying to make up for time spent away from the civilian world. For many student veterans, tuition remission makes a college education a real possibility. It gives us a chance to build a future and become more.” 

Information related to the budget request can be found on wisconsin.edu/promise.

The regents also approved the 2027-29 capital budget request.

Both the operating and capital budget requests will be delivered to the state Department of Administration for consideration by the governor and legislature.