Minnesota threatens to end tuition reciprocity with Wisconsin

(AP) - The University of Minnesota is threatening to end a longstanding tuition pact with Wisconsin unless students from that state agree to pay more to attend the Minnesota school.

The reciprocity agreement between the two states has helped keep college affordable for students in both states for decades. But the deal as it's now constituted costs the University of Minnesota millions of dollars in lost tuition.

Without the agreement, tuition would likely soar for students who cross the Minnesota-Wisconsin border for college.

Officials from both states involved in an upcoming negotiation on the agreement said they don't want it to come to that. But Minnesota is pushing for changes that would cost Wisconsin students thousands of dollars more per year - and Wisconsin officials are saying they don't want their students to pay more.

"We are very serious about this issue," said Craig Swan, vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota. Pulling out of the pact "would be a very serious step - one that we are not prepared to do today. But we have to give consideration to a full range of options."

The reciprocity deal dates to 1968, allowing Wisconsin students who attend Minnesota public colleges to pay the same tuition they would at a comparable Wisconsin school, and vice versa. Last year about 12,000 Wisconsinites came to Minnesota for college, while about 14,000 Minnesotans headed east.

The arrangement stayed roughly in balance for more than three decades, but then six years of steep tuition hikes at the University of Minnesota threw things out of whack. The result is that Wisconsin students at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus now pay $1,200 a year less in tuition than Minnesotans.

The states compensate each other for costs connected to the deal, with Wisconsin making a $6.5 million payment to Minnesota last year. But that money goes to the state's general fund, not directly to the university.

Wisconsin officials said it's not their fault that tuition skyrocketed in Minnesota while Wisconsin rates stayed in check. But University of Minnesota officials said the bottom line is the current deal now costs them more than $6 million a year in lost tuition.

Swan said Minnesota officials still support the concept of reciprocity. "What we're looking for is an adjustment of the current agreement that we think is really quite equitable and fair," he said.

Wisconsin officials have indicated they're willing to talk, but have also made it clear they are focused on keeping tuition affordable for Wisconsin students.

"We are happy with the agreement the way it is," said Connie Hutchison of the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board.

Officials from both sides hope to meet between now and the end of February. Susan Heergard, an aide to Gov. Tim Pawlenty on higher-education policy, said no one wants to see the deal scrapped.

"For generations, people have valued this agreement," Heergard said. "We've got 26,000 students crossing the border. Our hope is to be positive and get this agreement worked out. The ball is sort of in our court now."

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

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