UW-Madison in an Economic Recession and a Changing World

An interesting discussion arose at Tuesday’s forum about the state’s percentage share of UW-Madison’s operating budget. It currently stands at just under 20 percent, and the fact that the percentage is declining — it was 29 percent, for example, in 1995-96 — is generally pointed to as a sign of diminished state responsibility for funding UW-Madison.

While acknowledging that there have been some relative declines in state support, Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin emphasized that the shrinking state percentage has arisen more from big gains in other slices of the budget pie. For example, funding from federal sources and from private gifts and grants now comprise approximately half of UW-Madison’s total budget, a big leap from a decade ago.

Martin made the point to underscore the fact that Wisconsin, a state of relatively modest wealth, does make a significant investment in higher education, a fact that “deserves our focus and gratitude.”

“I don’t want to underestimate the significance of what the state provides,” she said.  “Coming from a university (Cornell) that relies heavily on endowments, we would need one of the largest endowments in the nation if we had to make up for what the state provides.”

Martin agreed with an audience member that cuts in state funding disproportionately hurt the parts of campus that receive less federal and private support, such as the liberal arts and humanities core. But it helps, she said, to view the state’s contributions in context with changes to the overall budget.