As the scramble for funding intensifies, four University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee schools and colleges have turned to differential tuition to help meet special needs of students in their programs, and a fifth is looking to follow suit.

Differential tuition requires students pursuing specific majors at UWM to pay more than other students, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

The four schools that assess differential tuition are the Peck School of the Arts, the School of Business Administration, the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the College of Nursing. The School of Architecture and Urban Planning may implement differential tuition in the 2006-’07 academic year.

Officials from the schools and colleges that assess differential tuition say that their programs need more money because the programs require additional technologies and supplies.

And few people are complaining.

Beginning this semester, all students who enroll in junior level classes at the School of Nursing will pay an extra $30 per credit.

According to the College of Nursing, differential fees allow the college to keep up with new technological advances in the nursing field, improving the quality of education.

“My main concern with differential tuition is if there is flexibility with the money,” said Sara Kroenke, a student in the college and a senator for the Student Association. “How can students learn about that flexibility and put their opinion forth without going out of their way to contact somebody?”

“As far as differential tuition goes, I agree with it. I also think that students need to feel like their voices are being heard.”

While differential tuition is paid by most, if not all, students who are going to schools that have this tuition, often it is the job of juniors and seniors to pay much of the cost.

“What we’re using money for isn’t used a lot by freshman and sophomores,” said Susan Dean-Baar, associate dean for the College of Nursing. “It’s mostly equipment for juniors and seniors.”

“State support wasn’t efficient to support costs of education,” she said. “The money we received from other areas simply isn’t enough. The cost is only going up, not down.”

She said that the cost is increasing because the College of Nursing is utilizing more computer simulations in classrooms.

“One mannequin costs $50,000 alone,” Dean-Baar said.

Since fall 2004, Peck School of the Arts students have paid an extra $10 per credit, excluding eight 100-level general education requirement courses.

This ensures that only students who are majoring in art will pay the differential fees.

The Peck School of the Arts said on its Web site that the differential tuition is needed because students need quality instructors and technological support, as well as access to required classes.

The Peck School of the Arts is now implementing a program in which students are required to have laptops that the added fees pay for.

Differential tuition for the School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP) passed through the Student Association on Nov. 6. If approved by the Board of Regents, students would pay $525 per year for laptop computers. With the new fees, students in 200-level or above architecture classes would pay $41 per credit with studio fees included. Freshman courses would be $11 per credit.

Differential tuition allows students to have access to software — via laptops — in order to succeed in classes, the SARUP Web site said.

Supporters of the SARUP measure said that students need to be technologically savvy to compete for the best jobs, since technology is now reshaping so many aspects of architectural practice.

Kroenke, the nursing student and SA senator, said that differential tuition can be a useful tool.

“I definitely think there is not enough money in tuition alone to cover the cost of the resources we use in the nursing building,” Kroenke said. “I would just like everything to be laid out on the table and be really clear for the students.”

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