Going to school at UW-Whitewater means a few things. Since it’s a state school, we will be riding the rollercoaster of the budgets made by the state government.

Since it’s publically funded, the funding for the UW System is split 15 ways. However, there are two schools that get a much larger chunk of the pie.

UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee are always getting liberal amounts of money from the state. While it is understandable that these universities are bigger than others, what would happen if the state would even things out?

Unlike UW-Milwaukee, universities including, but not limited to, UW-Whitewater, UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point are not locked by land and could use extra funding to expand the size of their universities.

With admission steadily ascending throughout the UW System, perhaps it is time we make the campuses larger. Whitewater, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Stevens Point are all in towns where expansion is feasible.

Have you ever taken a walk on the UW-Madison campus before? There is always something being built or renovated. While some of the money for those renovations is no doubt from donations, a good chunk is state funding.

Here at Whitewater, we also have built a few new buildings. Hyland and Starin Hall are the most recent additions to campus and soon Carlson Hall will join them.

With that being said, there is nothing wrong with Madison or Milwaukee getting more funding than Whitewater, Eau Claire, La Crosse or Stevens Point, but the difference does not need to be that drastic.

According to the UW System’s 2010-2011 Factbook, UW-Madison has 49 percent of the UW System’s budget, compared to 3.4 percent for UW-Whitewater. If UW-Madison’s funding was cut by 15 percent and dispersed among more of the UW System schools, our system as a whole would be much stronger.

UW-Madison is a great school for the UW System. Whitewater benefits from Madison’s close proximity and the quality of education received at Madison provides a trickle down effect for the rest of the UW System.

With schools other than Milwaukee and Madison provided with more funding, the UW System and state of Wisconsin will be stronger as a whole.

While Madison is our state capital, we must also recognize that life doesn’t revolve around it. There are other bright places in the state that the budget needs to shine in, such as Eau Claire, La Crosse, Stevens Point and Whitewater.

Will it happen? Maybe not. UW-Madison is the state’s shining star and the Capitol will be reluctant to do anything to slightly tarnish Madison’s sterling academic standing.

However, if lawmakers in Madison are interested in the benefit of the whole state, other universities need a larger piece of the UW System pie.