Addressing the healthcare workforce shortage and making college affordable for Wisconsinites are priorities underpinning the recently released 2027-29 Universities of Wisconsin biennial operating budget request, released last month by the Board of Regents. The weight of both topics is felt strongly on the ground in Northeast Wisconsin, says Prevea Health CEO Dr. Ashok Rai, who was named regents vice president in June.
As the chief executive of an organization that serves many rural areas of Northeast Wisconsin, Rai says he has seen firsthand the impact of the college affordability issue.
“We’ve got a lot of dreamers out there that are living in Suring or living in Oconto Falls or Marinette and, you know, they want to do something big with their life,” Rai says. “And I want those students to understand that the opportunities are there for them and that we’re going to make it affordable and they can dream big.”
Rai says the UW System’s tuition rates are lower than neighboring states, and the budget request’s signature inclusion of a two-year proposed tuition freeze aims to help with ongoing affordability concerns in a U.S. economic climate that has recently been plagued by rising costs.
But while Wisconsin’s public universities are competitive on the tuition affordability front, Rai says, it ranks lowest in the same cluster of Midwestern states for state funding. As such, the regents’ proposed tuition freeze includes a stipulation that, in order to move forward, the state legislature must invest $190 million to support the system’s efforts.
And with a pivotal state election approaching, Rai says education access and workforce expansion are on the ballot.
“[If] you look at what both parties are saying out loud, what the state needs … it is really talking to what everybody’s talking about. How do we make things more affordable for our citizens? How do we create new jobs in Wisconsin? How do we create more businesses in Wisconsin? How do we care for Wisconsinites? You know, healthcare is obviously very personal to me, given what I do,” Rai says. “I would say the political aspect [of this is] we’ve put together a budget based on what [candidates are] saying out loud on their websites, in their speeches.
“The ball’s in their court now.”
Investing in the future
Also included in the budget request are investments in Wisconsin Work and Learn, a last-dollar aid program for students from families earning less than the state median income in exchange for a work commitment; Healthy Wisconsin, which would train 35,000 new healthcare professionals in the next decade; and Cures for Tomorrow, a proposal to advance life-saving discoveries in cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases.
The healthcare workforce issue is especially close to Rai’s heart, he says, and it is critical in Northeast Wisconsin where UW-Oshkosh is a top training ground for nurses. And of course, he adds, the healthcare workforce shortage is felt even more in rural and non-urban areas like those Prevea serves.
“If we don’t focus on this right now, we’re going to dig a deeper and deeper hole,” Rai says, noting that Wisconsin Hospital Association statistics show Wisconsin is in a crisis-level state when it comes to producing healthcare workers.
“The universities of Wisconsin play a role, and that role is really twofold,” he says. “We need to generate the workforce, and we need to come up with cures to help that rising acuity. We have some of the best researchers in the entire world. This isn’t about just Wisconsin. This is solving the world’s problems.”
More information related to the regents’ budget request can be found at wisconsin.edu/promise.
The regents also approved the 2027-29 capital budget request. Both the operating and capital budget requests will be delivered to the state Department of Administration for consideration by the governor and legislature.
