SUMMARY

Net position provides a measure of overall financial condition. On the basis of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), UW System’s net position was $6.7 billion as of June 30, 2024. UW System total revenue increased from $6.3 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 to $7.0 billion in FY 2023-24, or by 10.0 percent. Student Tuition and Fees totaled $1.6 billion and accounted for 22.9 percent of UW System’s total revenue in FY 2023-24. UW System expenses increased from $6.4 billion in FY 2022-23 to $6.6 billion in FY 2023-24, or by 3.7 percent. Total Salary and Fringe Benefits was UW System’s largest expense and totaled $4.2 billion, or 63.6 percent of UW System’s total expenses in FY 2023-24.

As noted, total Salary and Fringe Benefits was UW System’s largest expense in FY 2023-24. In addition to faculty, UW employed individuals as:

• academic staff, who are professional and administrative employees with duties primarily associated with higher education institutions or their administration, including approximately 30.0 percent of whom have instructional duties;
• University staff, who work in a variety of positions that support UW’s operations, such as custodians and electricians, and were formerly known as classified staff; and
• limited appointees, who are specially appointed to designated administrative positions and serve at the pleasure of the authorized officials who made the appointments.

The total number of full- and part-time academic staff, faculty, limited appointees, and University staff increased from 33,530 in May 2022 to 35,323 in May 2024, or by 5.3 percent. To provide greater context for salaries expense, our analysis is based on the numbers of UW employees paid rather than the number of authorized UW positions. In May 2024:

• 29.4 percent of full-time academic staff had annualized salaries that were less than $60,000, while 24.0 percent had annualized salaries of $90,000 or more;
• 25.1 percent of full-time faculty had annualized salaries that were less than $75,000, while 23.2 percent had annualized salaries of $150,000 or more; and
• 23.1 percent of full-time limited appointees had annualized salaries that were less than $95,000, while 24.3 percent had annualized salaries of $170,000 or more.

On a budgetary basis, UW System’s total program revenue balance was $1.6 billion as of June 30, 2024. Of that amount, $1.1 billion was from unrestricted sources, such as tuition and auxiliary operations. As of June 30, 2024, UW System’s unrestricted program revenue balances were 1.4 percent less than they were as of June 30, 2023. Program revenue balances from unrestricted sources increased at seven UW institutions and declined at seven UW institutions in FY 2023-24. Unrestricted program revenue balances ranged from $1.1 million at UW-Oshkosh to $486.9 million at UW-Madison.

Total tuition program revenue balances increased 0.3 percent from $246.7 million as of June 30, 2023, to $247.4 million as of June 30, 2024, including increases at nine UW institutions. UW-Oshkosh had exhausted its tuition program revenue balance at the end of FY 2023-24 and reported a negative balance of $6.2 million that it expects will be eliminated at the end of FY 2025-26.

Program revenue balances are reported for five revenue sources that do not have restrictions on their use, including tuition and auxiliary operations. Board of Regents policy requires UW institutions with positive balances in excess of 12.0 percent of fiscal year expenditures for tuition, auxiliary operations, and other unrestricted program revenue sources to provide a detailed spending plan and additional information for those balances. For FY 2023-24, 42 detailed spending plans were created for unrestricted balances that exceeded the 12.0 percent limit. All 14 UW institutions submitted a detailed spending plan for at least one unrestricted program revenue source.

Since the inception of program revenue balance reporting in FY 2013-14 and through FY 2023-24, UW institutions prepared 480 spending plans. UW institutions prepared the most spending plans for auxiliary program revenue balances, including at seven UW institutions that reported a spending plan for auxiliary program revenue balances each year from FY 2013-14 through FY 2023-24. On average, UW institutions prepared 44 spending plans annually. The number of plans prepared ranged from 39 for FY 2019-20 to 50 for FY 2013-14.