Walker, at UW-L on Tuesday, proposes tuition cuts, as he’s set to propose state budget Wed.

Students would save $360 a year beginning year after tuition freeze ends.

Tuition cuts were the topic for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Tuesday

Walker, who is up for re-election in 2018, proposed a 5-percent tuition cut beginning in the fall of 2018 throughout the UW System – the school year after the tuition freeze ends.

Walker said those lost dollars from schools would be made up by giving campuses $35 million from the taxpayers.

The cuts were part of three initiatives for the System as part of Walker’s 2017-19 state budget. They would cost around $100 million, not including the $35 million mentioned above.

Walker did not say where that money would come from. He will propose his budget to the Legislature on Wednesday.

The tuition cuts, he said, would save undergraduates about $360 a year.

Along with the $35 million from taxpayers, another $42.5 million in state aid that would be performance based, depending on graduation numbers, time to get degrees, obtaining jobs after graduation and working in high-demand fields within the state – things UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow was wary of.

He was not, however, wary of some of the other news. 

“This is the best budget I’ve ever seen in my 10 years as chancellor at UW-L,” Chancellor Joe Gow said. “Not only does it lower tuition for students but it gives us more resources.”

The UW System sought $95.2 million in new state funding at the last biennial budget request. Instead, it was handed a $250 million cut and has been cut a total of $362 million between 2012-2017.