MADISON, Wis. — The head of the Universities of Wisconsin on Thursday defended his request for a massive $855 million funding increase from state government but told lawmakers he doesn’t expect the state to be able to cover the cuts President Donald Trump’s administration is making to higher education funding and research grants.
“I don’t think that the state could afford to pick up what could be lost,” UW President Jay Rothman said.
The university system has lost millions so far due to federal grant cuts. The Trump administration has also tried to cap federal spending on overhead costs of research, which could result in losses in the tens of millions for UW campuses.
“I think what’s going to happen if that occurs, is research capacity is going to decline, research infrastructure is going to decline, and that will be our new reality going forward,” Rothman said.
UW-Madison has already notified at least six employees that they will be laid off because of federal grants that have been terminated.
Watch: UW president not expecting state to cover federal funding cuts
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are set to write a new state budget in the coming months, and Rothman says securing $855 million in additional funding over the next two years is necessary in order to pay employees competitively and avoid raising the cost of tuition.
“You can’t cut your way to success, and either you’re going to choose to invest or you’re going to have a university system that is not as strong as I think it should be,” Rothman told lawmakers on Thursday.
The Republican-controlled Legislature typically sends a budget bill to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers by June. Evers backed the university system’s request for more state funding, but the governor can only amend the budget bill by removing items with his partial veto power. He cannot add in new policies.
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