Photo by Miles Maguire
Students pay up to $3,380 per semester to live in the Horizon Village residence hall at UW Oshkosh.
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To help fill a budget hole, UW Oshkosh plans to shift $5 million from its residence halls into student academic services.
The surplus in the school’s Department of Residence Life “was generated by unanticipated salary savings, delay and/or postponement of building and maintenance projects, and increased revenues from additional room occupancy and conference center activities,” according to a request that was approved by the Board of Regents last week.
The money will be spent on student services that have traditionally been funded by tuition and legislative appropriations. These activities include “admissions, career planning and placement, financial aid administration, counseling center and the registrar’s office,” the transfer request document shows.
UW Oshkosh students currently pay slightly more for room and board than for tuition, according to the school’s website. During the current academic year Wisconsin residents can expect to pay $4,046 for room and board each semester, compared to just $3,811 for tuition.
“We are pleased our plan for responsible fiscal transition continues to have support of the Board of Regents and the UW System,” said Chancellor Andrew Leavitt. “This student supported plan is critical to our strategy to support programs and students on campus."
“While the situation is obviously not ideal, we recognize the serious circumstances the university finds itself in and believe that the best course of action is to act in the interests of the university as a whole,” Madeline Hass, president of a campus group called United Students in Residence Halls, said in a written statement to the regents.