Customized Instruction Approval

Customized Instruction (CI), also known as 131-funding, refers to specialized education programming designed for a specific population and delivered in a nontraditional manner.  A differential tuition rate is applied to CI programs, which allows the university to charge market rates for programs that primarily are offered online, after hours, or away from campus. Customized programs are cost recovery and self-sustaining; they are supported by program revenue alone. The customized instruction tuition rate covers the entire cost of instruction, university overhead, academic support, and other related costs.  The tuition received also includes payment of salaries, fringe benefits, and supplies. The customized aspects of these programs include: populations served, assurance of course delivery; delivery methods; and delivery times & dates, and are not intended for regular, residential students.  In these offerings, student Wisconsin residency is not a concern. 
 
There are two steps for approval to charge customized instruction rates for a programs:

  • First a program must be approved through the standard campus and UW-System processes.
  • A Customized Instruction Approval Form [PDF] and supporting documentation must be submitted to the Chancellor, through the College and the Provost. Supporting documentation includes: proposed tuition rate, expected resulting revenue, enrollment assumptions, market demand, and plans for use of funds.

The current customized instruction program listing with approved rates [PDF] can be found on the Student Business Services website.