As a student member of the board overseeing Wisconsin’s state university system in July 1989, Robin Vos had reservations about freezing student tuition.

He said students don’t like tuition hikes, but they would prefer modest increases over worsening the quality of their education or shedding programs.

"I think it is a necessary evil, to a certain extent, to have tuition increases," Vos told his colleagues during a UW System Board of Regents meeting, according to minutes from the meeting.

Tuition and fees at UW-Whitewater, where Vos attended, were $1,611 at the time — about four times less than today. The next year, the bill increased by $108 to $1,719.

Vos considered that tuition increase a necessary evil. But since 2013, after rising in Wisconsin politics to speaker of the state Assembly, Vos has joined other Republican lawmakers to champion freezing tuition for thousands of undergrads at state universities.

Vos, who graduated in 1991, is one of dozens of Wisconsin lawmakers from his generation who attended state universities at a time when the schools — and students — benefited from a much larger share of public funding.

State taxes accounted for about 41 percent of the UW System’s instructional costs in 1987 when Vos arrived at UW-Whitewater. Today, state taxes cover about 24 percent of the bill, placing more pressure on tuition.

The changes have been gradual and longstanding. And to be sure, Wisconsin's Legislature includes some much more recent graduates. But more than one-third of lawmakers attended UW System schools in times of much lower tuition and more generous state subsidies.

Many of the same lawmakers today have rejected calls to ease pressure on families by cutting tuition, restoring past levels of state subsidies or taking a more aggressive approach to mounting student debt.

Lawmakers paid thousands less for UW degrees than today's grads

Vos is far from the only future lawmaker to benefit from past subsidies. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren attended UW System schools at lower tuition rates than today (even after adjusting for inflation).

Each has been influential in recent tuition policy. Darling and Nygren have led the Legislature’s budget committee in recent years, steering debate over tax spending.

Fitzgerald was among the first lawmakers last year to question a proposal by Gov. Scott Walker to cut tuition. The Legislature's budget committee ultimately erased the cut in favor of an alternative urged by Vos.

At least 40 other current state lawmakers — 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats — also earned degrees from UW System schools more than two decades ago, when tuition was thousands of dollars less and state taxes did more to subsidize instructional costs, according to a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin analysis.

Lawmakers earned cheaper degrees that helped them launch careers in business, health care, legal practices and politics.

Vos declined to be interviewed for this article. But state Rep. Mike Kuglitsch, another Republican who graduated from UW-Whitewater in 1983, said he understands the financial pressure on families from rising tuition. Look at his own: He is the parent of four children who attended state universities.

"This is why I voted for the tuition freeze," Kuglitsch said. "I am undecided if current tuition rates are satisfactory, but we should not look to increase them. It is important that we make our universities both efficient and cost effective to best serve their students."

Alyssa Molinski, a UW-Milwaukee senior who serves as student body president, said she may not have lived it, but she definitely thinks about how times have changed.

"I just don't understand why it has to be so expensive, in all honesty," Molinski said. "I mean, people who graduated decades ago have the same jobs that people like me are trying to get into. So they're receiving the same education but it's thousands of dollars more (for us)."

Growing tuition, growing debt

UW-Stevens Point senior Brailey Kerber, also a student body president, said she was surprised to learn how gradually tuition increased over the decades at UW System schools.

Tuition climbed in the UW System after its formation in the 1970s despite stagnant funding from state taxes, rising enrollment and signs that families were struggling. By the 2000s, more families were taking out loans to pay for college, and those loans have gotten bigger since then.

The average UW System graduate who now leaves with a bachelor’s degree also carries about $30,000 in loans.

Affordability was a key factor in Kerber's decision to enroll at UW-Stevens Point. She said it was the cheapest school for her even though she is an out-of-state student. She supports the tuition freeze, as long as it is funded.

"The UW System needs state funding to make up for the money we don't (and shouldn't have to) pay for tuition," she wrote in an email."Public universities should be state-supported, not student supported."

Along with more tuition, modern families are paying thousands more for housing and meals. In 1987 when Vos was a freshman at UW-Whitewater, on-campus housing cost about $1,000 and a meal plan cost about $850. Students now pay four times as much for housing and nearly three times as much for meals.

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While a college degree increasingly became a ticket to employment and higher wages in Wisconsin's transforming economy, many families also found themselves in a cash flow pinch. Paying for a four-year degree meant drawing from paychecks that weren’t growing as quickly.

When Vos graduated in 1991, the cost of tuition and fees at UW-Whitewater represented about 6 percent of the median household income in Wisconsin ($29,442). Now, the school’s tuition and fees cost 14 percent of the median household income ($54,600).

Molinski, a first-generation college student, said she initially lived at home and commuted to UW-Milwaukee to save on room and board. She had wanted the college experience of living away from home in a dorm with her friends, but enrolling at a school near home saved thousands of dollars.

"I was really limited in where I could go to school because of the affordability issue," she said. "I went to UW-Milwaukee because it was the most affordable school."

Molinski said the tuition freeze has forced campuses to make do with fewer resources, but students continue to struggle because the cost of other things keep rising. Other students agreed, citing increasing costs on rent, books, student fees and more.

Growth in grants, scholarships and other financial aid have helped ease the pinch for some families. But Vos and other influential lawmakers have been reluctant to substantially turn back the clock even for those most in need.

The state’s public and private colleges asked lawmakers last year to boost need-based grants by $52 million to expand size and scope of aid awarded to students. They ultimately got about a quarter of that amount.

Tuition increases outpaced inflation

Concerns over college affordability are nothing new in Wisconsin. Even when Vos was a UW-Whitewater student and UW System board member, some regents were raising alarm over the pace of annual tuition increases.

"Relative to other universities, this may be a bargain, but it is still very painful to many students and many families," said Ness Flores, a regent from Waukesha, during a July 1989 meeting.

Ody Fish, another regent from Hartland, added, "It's questionable whether a social worker or an elementary school teacher can come out of the university with a large loan and be able to pay it."

Amid a broader tuition policy debate in 1990, Vos suggested limiting future hikes to inflation rates and called for spending increases be restricted to ease pressure on tuition. The ideas never gained traction, however.

Tuition hikes consistently outpaced inflation in the 1990s and 2000s, and became a key source of funding for the UW System's spending growth. Lawmakers had their own pot of growing tax revenues, but they poured much of the additional money into other needs like K-12 schools, prisons and health care.

About 6 percent of the state's operating budget now goes to the UW System, down from 10 percent in 1995. The state now spends more money on its prisons than it does on its four-year universities and two-year colleges.

UW System officials have cited a host of reasons for hiking tuition and spending over the decades, such as the need to stay competitive with other colleges, comply with new regulations, keep up with inflation and stave off program cuts.

But in 2013, lawmakers froze tuition for in-state undergrads and maintained funding levels from state taxes, forcing the system to spend from its reserves or face massive cuts.

Tuition hasn't changed since for in-state undergrads, though it has swelled for students from other states and countries. Like in 1989, when a surplus of out-of-state students eased pressure on in-state tuition, modern UW officials have sought to expand enrollment of students paying higher tuition to maintain service levels.

Wisconsin residents represent about 15 in every 20 UW System students today, down from about 16 in every 20 students two decades ago.

"Tuition is definitely the lifeblood of any institution," said Andrew Leavitt, chancellor of UW-Oshkosh. "We have to be much smarter about how we go out and recruit, retain, progress and graduate students."

But he also still holds onto a copy of the 1970 Wisconsin State University Oshkosh course catalog, from a time when the cost of instruction for students was paid for by taxpayers. The line showing tuition cost for an in-state student in that catalog reads: "None."

Lawmakers split on tuition cut

Walker's proposal to cut in-state tuition last year received a cold reception from influential legislators, university leaders and some students.

Echoing Vos from nearly three decades earlier, UW System officials and students voiced concerns that shrinking a major source of funding like tuition could threaten the quality or quantity of education that students receive.

Walker had a solution — offset the lost revenue with $35 million in additional state subsidies — but that didn't sit well with many legislators. Democrats questioned whether Walker would follow through, while Republicans favored a more targeted, cheaper plan.

State budget analysts estimated that cutting tuition by 1 percent would cost the UW System about $8.4 million in revenue annually. Walker proposed a 5 percent cut, or what analysts estimated could total $42 million in lost revenue annually.

Rather than Walker's proposed cut, legislators approved boosting support for a need-based grants program by $15 million. About a third of the increase went to UW System students. The rest went to students attending private, tribal and technical colleges.

UW System leaders have asked lawmakers to continue freezing tuition next year. Walker and his re-election challenger this year, Democrat Tony Evers, who is the state superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, have each supported continuing the freeze as well.

There is scant evidence of support among other lawmakers for raising tuition. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin asked all current legislators this month for their position on current tuition levels. Among the40 of 132 who responded so far, none advocated for hiking tuition and many Democrats urged cutting tuition alongside boosting state aid.

Ben O'Connell, UW-La Crosse's student body president, said tuition rates should not go up and are not satisfactory where they stand now.

"Although the current tuition freeze is a good first step toward making college more affordable for students, there are many in Wisconsin who still cannot afford the bill that is due at the beginning of each semester," O'Connell wrote in an email. "This inevitably leads to a choice for some students, who are forced to choose between tuition, rent, or eating. This is a choice that no one should have to make."

Leavitt, UW-Oshkosh's chancellor, said costs should be held down for students. But he said his concern is that a lack of state support during the freeze could "erode" the quality of education. And, regardless of who's paying, he said college is worth the rising cost.

"I still believe that higher education is an incredible deal, simply because it's been shown that time and time again a student with a baccalaureate degree will earn approximately a million dollars more over their lifetime than someone with a high school degree. That investment definitely pays off."