UPDATE: UW System regents approve 5.5 percent tuition hike - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

MADISON (WKOW) -- Students at all 26 University of Wisconsin schools will see a 5.5 percent tuition increase for the sixth year in a row.

That measure was approved by the UW System Board of Regents Thursday afternoon and it brings the total tuition cost at UW-Madison to more than $10,000 per year.

State taxpayers are funding a much lower percentage of the UW System's overall budget than ever before, about half of what they were twenty years ago.

But even that decrease doesn't entirely explain the exponential tuition increases.

At UW-Madison, tuition has gone up at a higher rate than even the school's operating budget.

Reaction from students is what you might expect.

"Its definitely discouraging because its gotten so expensive and you have the worry about having so much loans after graduating and what not," said UW Senior Lauren Arena

"A lot of pressure to find a job right away and start paying it off as soon as possible, because you don't want the interest accruing and adding up," added Renee Heller, who just graduated from UW in May with a masters degree in social work.

Heller has more than $40,000 in student loan debt.

That amount of debt is rising, because of those tuition hikes, which have gone up at close to four times the rate of overall inflation.

"There's obviously different spots in the budget where its going to different places, so, I guess I would be interested in knowing where our tuition dollars are going?," said Heller.

That answer is much more difficult to find.

But no matter what it is, the result is a lot more cost and work for this generation of students than perhaps any other.

"I just got a job at the mall, which, I mean, covers barely cost of living," said Arena.  "Its nothing that I can really use significantly towards my tuition, so that's hard."

"I worked three jobs all throughout college, so, you know, with school and your field placements and then working I was probably at around 60 or 70 hours a week doing that," added Heller.

And when those loans come due, the costs are extreme.

"It will probably be around $500 a month," said Heller.

******

MILWAUKEE (WKOW) -- Tuition's throughout the University of Wisconsin System will rise 5.5 percent for the 2012-13 academic year.

The Board of Regents approved the proposal by a 17-1 vote Thursday at the UW-Milwaukee campus.

The increase applies at the system's 13 four-year colleges, which includes UW-Madison, and 13 two-year campuses.

UW System President Kevin Reilly proposed the maximum increase, saying the rate hikes would help compensate for cuts in state aid.

The average annual increase at the four-year schools is about $400. Students at UW-Madison will pay more than $10,000 a year for in-state tuition.

Capitol Bureau Chief Greg Neumann will have more on the impact of rising tuition costs on 27 News at 5 and 6.

********

MILWAUKEE (WKOW) -- The University of Wisconsin System's Board of Regents meet Thursday to talk about a possible tuition increase.

The two-day meeting starts Thursday morning at UW-Milwaukee.

On the top of the list is a proposal by UW System President Kevin Reilly to increase tuition by 5.5 percent at all 13 four-year campuses.

If the increase is approved, students at UW-Madison would pay more than $10,000 a year for in-state tuition.

This is the sixth straight year that Reilly has recommended the maximum 5.5 percent tuition hike.

Tuition at UW-Madison has jumped by over 155 percent since the 2000-2001 academic year and now accounts for 16 percent of the school's overall operating budget.

In that same period, state tax funding for UW-Madison has dropped by 55 percent, putting more of the burden for the school's budget on the students themselves.