A request for tuition differential at UW-Superior was approved Feb. 11 by the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.

Student Government Association President Jessica Duffy, Student Senator Joe Stensland, and Interim Chancellor Christopher Markwood presented the UW-Superior request to the regents' Business and Finance Committee and received a positive recommendation. The full board approved the committee's recommendation on Friday.  

The board approval:

• Extends for four years the existing differentials that support the Career Services Center and Jim Dan Hill Library.
  
• Adds a $15 per semester differential for technology for Swenson Hall.
  
• Adds a program differential for Natural Sciences of $12 per credit hour. As a result, the university will eliminate special lab fees on science courses.

The Swenson Hall differential provides for classroom and academic lab equipment acquisitions in the campus' new academic building. It also provides student assistant funding to maintain the expanded inventory of computers while affording additional on-campus student employment opportunities.

The Natural Sciences program differential provides funding for acquisition of modern, analytical instrumentation; maintenance of existing laboratory equipment; additional field trip experiences; support for capstone research projects; and student assistant funding to assist with laboratory activities and tutoring.  It also expands on-campus student employment opportunities. 

The differential fee replaces existing laboratory and breakage fees currently being assessed, which could result in savings of up to $200 for students completing their major or minor in science field.

It is expected that this fee will raise tuition costs for the required four credits of coursework in lab sciences for general students by approximately $48 over the course of four years. Science majors are required to have 34 science credits resulting in an increased cost of $408 for biology or chemistry majors.  Science minors are required to take 22 credits resulting in an increased cost of $264.