Home > Update > June 2007

From the Dean

he School of Business took another important step toward a brighter future this semester when the Board of Regents voted to approve differential tuition for the undergraduate business major at UW-Madison. Starting this fall, business undergraduates will pay a higher tuition than other majors to help maintain the quality of their business education. Remarkably, strong support for the proposal came from our undergraduate student body, particularly the Undergraduate Business Leadership Council, whose backing was critical to passage.

If we want to maintain the quality of this institution, it is natural to ask the main beneficiaries to help more with the funding.

Some concern was expressed on campus that the concept of differential tuition might enable the state to avoid “paying its share” of higher education costs. We all wish the state could do more, but Wisconsin’s economy has struggled to keep up with the national economic performance as manufacturing has adjusted to globalization. Non-discretionary public expenditures such as health care, corrections and other programs are growing faster than personal incomes and tax revenues. The result is greater difficulty in funding discretionary items such as higher education. This situation seems unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, our alumni and students have been and will be served very well in the workforce by their UW degrees. The return on college degrees generally has risen dramatically in recent decades. Because the state has heavily subsidized this great university for many years, our alumni and students have been able to enjoy particularly high returns. If we want to maintain the quality of this institution, it is natural to ask the main beneficiaries to help more with the funding.

I have been told that when former Chancellor Donna Shalala first proposed adding private money to state funds on building projects, critics worried that the precedent would reduce the state’s commitment to future projects. Her position was “Do you want to build buildings, or not?” In her view, waiting for the state to pay meant going without. I think we are at the same juncture today, but today’s debate is about the defining resource of the university—human capital—the talented men and women who do world-class teaching and research. It is easier to restore a physical plant than it is to restore a depleted faculty. We wait for state money at our own peril.

The future of our school will rest with our ability to win the confidence, trust and support of our customers—full-time degree students, alumni and friends, part-time degree students, and partners in executive education. The undergraduate student support of the tuition differential was an important piece of that equation. It will provide much-needed resources to augment faculty and staff. Generous alumni support is enabling the addition to Grainger Hall and fueling the progress we see in many of our academic programs. Our own entrepreneurial efforts in part-time degree programs and executive education are contributing to a brighter future as well.

Just as alumni and other fans have shown the wherewithal to “pay for quality” in UW athletic programs, we trust that the same cycle can be built around students and alumni in academics. Annual giving is particularly important as it provides the flexibility to meet our most pressing needs.

By combining all the resources available in new and established ways, we can ensure that the School of Business provides an even higher return on investment to new generations of students. We look forward to working with you to make this strong future a reality.

Michael Knetter
Dean