Created in 1968, the Minnesota-Wisconsin reciprocity plan allows students to attend public colleges in each others' states for a price equivalent to what they would pay in their home state; Wisconsinites can attend a Minnesota school & pay Wisconsin's in-state tuition rates, and vice versa. As part of the arrangement, an annual payment would be made by the state with the lower tuition to reimburse the other for the difference. Last year, the state of Wisconsin paid Minnesota $6.5 million for their shortfall in tuition.

However, Minnesota's tuition has risen faster than Wisconsin's in recent years, which has created problems for Minnesota's colleges & their students, but has proved a windfall of Wisconsin's students. Depending on which institution or campus a student attends, a Wisconsin student can pay substantially less than the standard Minnesota resident tuition fees. A Wisconsinite attending any of the four U of M campuses saves a minimum of nearly $1200 per semester, and those attending UM-Morris save a whopping $2720 in tuition. By contrast, a Minnesotan who attends UW-Milwaukee must pay $1737 more than the Wisconsin resident rate, and attendance at the UW-Madison costs $7077 more than the in-state rate, though it's still a discount compared to the normal non-resident price.

These imbalances have Minnesotans crying foul. Alison Reynolds, a Minnesota resident who studies Psychology at the UW, criticized the arrangement as "wacky, and said that "Wisconsin students shouldn't pay less to go to the 'U' because they don't even live there... If it were truly reciprocal, we would be paying the same."

"It looks like we're selling education on the cheap to Wisconsin," said Craig Swan, vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of Minnesota. "It's difficult to explain to Minnesota taxpayers why they are paying more to the university than a student from Wisconsin is paying." Peter Zetterberg, a senior analyst in the UM provost's office, said that "no other state in the country allows students from another state to attend and pay less than their own residents... We're not asking Wisconsin residents to pay more than Minnesota residents; we're just asking them to pay the same."

Supporters of the current system, however, say there is a reason why the loudest protests are coming from administrators at the University of Minnesota; they claim that reciprocity costs them over $6 million annually. Even though Wisconsin reimbursed Minnesota last year to the tune of $6.5 million, the payment does not go directly to the University of Minnesota, because the compact covers both public & private universities. Instead, the money is paid to Minnesota's general fund, which is allocated by the Minnesota legislature.

"The state of Wisconsin is paying compensation for the difference in tuition costs, but the money needs to end up in the right places," said an editorial for the Minnesota Daily. "If the University is truly losing the most from this agreement the money should be rightfully reimbursed, not sent to the state's general fund... We don't need new negotiations with Wisconsin; we need the state of Minnesota to rectify the unjust cost being shouldered by the University."

Eric Dyer, a student president of the UM-Twin Cities campus, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that an increase in tuition for Wisconsin residents would be unjustly punitive, and laid the blame on Minnesota's government "for not sufficiently subsidizing higher education." Dyer, who is a native of Racine, said that he would have otherwise attended UW-La Crosse if not for the affordability offered by the reciprocity pact.

However, Stephanie Payne, a Madisonian who attends the same campus, counters that having Wisconsin residents pay the same rate as Minnesota residents would still be a bargain, and said that the $1200 annual savings she enjoys is not substantial, considering that she pays nearly $500 each semester for textbooks.

Rather than appeal to their state government, officials in Minnesota have decided to attempt a renegotiation of the compact with Wisconsin. In January, the Badger Herald reported that Susan Heegaard, executive director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, wrote a letter to the Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board (WHEA), asking that Wisconsin raise its tuition rates within the next four years to meet Minnesota's levels.

Not much may come of that request, as Governor Doyle of Wisconsin was sharply criticized during his first term for cutting a quarter-million dollars from the UW System's budget, and recently announced his intent to restore $225 million to the UW budget in the next biennial budget plan. Connie Hutchinson of WHEA has stated that "we are happy with the agreement the way that it is", and indicated that maintaining college affordability is one of the governor's top priorities. WHEA has indicated, however, that they are open to discussions.

Talks are expected to conclude by the end of the month, so that tuition prices can be set for the forthcoming school year. If the compact is dissolved, current recipients of reciprocity will still be able to pay for tuition under the terms they started with. New students for the Fall 07-08 semester would be the first affected by any changes.