Now that’s just good marketing

Tuition freeze planned for UW-B/SC

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County's tuition will be frozen at the 2006 level for the second year in a row this fall, the dean says, while students attending four-year UW campuses may face increases.

Notice how they made absolutely sure to get that contrast right in the first paragraph. Good stuff.

The UW System Board of Regents is expected to vote on a budget during a meeting at UW-Milwaukee today, according to the Associated Press. The plan would increase resident undergraduate tuition by $348 at UW-Madison, $340 at UW-Milwaukee and $265 at 11 other four-year schools in the fall.

The 5.5-percent tuition increase in part pays for free tuition provided to veterans.

UW-Baraboo/Sauk County Dean Thomas Pleger said the system budget will freeze tuition for Baraboo students.

"It will preserve access to the University of Wisconsin system by freezing tuition at the freshman-sophomore campuses," he said. "This should make starting a UW degree more accessible to many more students by keeping tuition low at this entry point."

A student starting their academic career in Baraboo would save $800 over attending a state four-year campus, Pleger said. Compared to attending UW-Madison or UW-Milwaukee, they save about $2,300.

The Dean didn’t say it - not in so many words - but I bet the concept of attracting more students with an comparable product at a better price fits in there somewhere, too.

I love the smell of capitalism in the morning. Oh, hell, I love that smell anytime.