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(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.

Gallery

Minnesota and Wisconsin extend tuition pact

Minnesota lawmakers may jump into tuition dispute with Wisconsin

Minnesota threatens to end tuition reciprocity with Wisconsin

Politics and Government News

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.

talks about the tuition reciprocity deal with Wisconsin.

U of M ready to end reciprocity deal with Wisconsin

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