Concerns about higher education costs in the state rose earlier this month, as the University of Wisconsin slipped 10 spots in a nationwide survey on college affordability.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked UW 25th in the nation in college affordability for in-state students, down from 15th last year, and 41st for out-of-state students.

This year, UW was passed by its Big Ten rival, the University of Michigan, which took the No. 20 spot. The University of Illinois also made the list, but plummeted from 8th in the nation to 30th.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill topped the list for the sixth straight year.

As one of its criteria, Kiplinger’s looks at the percentage of need-based aid fulfilled by the university. According to the published figures, UW slashed need-based funding last year, leaving the average student with $18,630 of debt.

UW Director of Student Financial Services Susan Fischer said the slide in the rankings has more to do with a larger need for aid, rather than a cut in funding.

“I don’t know where Kiplinger’s gets their data, but we haven’t slashed anything,” Fischer said. “They are pretty reputable, but we have more need financially. I think there’s a difference philosophically between not giving enough funding and taking it away.”

According to Melissa Steeley, senior editorial assistant at Kiplinger’s, the magazine buys data from Peterson’s, a college research group based in New York City. Peterson’s compiles data from a nationwide database of colleges, known as the Common Data Set. Kiplinger’s own research, as well as that from the Common Data Set, makes up the survey.

Fischer also said she doubted the data gathered on Illinois, which reportedly cut nearly half of its need-based aid.

“No financial aid director would stand for that,” Fischer said.

Provost Patrick Farrell said the need-based aid figures come from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. All universities have equal access to federal funding, but some simply have more resources to augment what they receive.

Fischer pointed to the University of Michigan and said they use a different model when conducting their tuition and financial aid balance.

“It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Fischer said. “You can’t compare the tuition systems, so it appears like they have a lot more need-based aid.”

Farrell said Michigan has a much higher tuition base than UW, allowing them to have a larger funding pool. Therefore, they can discount the price for a larger number of students.

The UW System follows the opposite model, according to Farrell.

“Here, the choice has been made to make a low base tuition so we don’t generate the same aid to help pay — it’s a different strategy,” Farrell said.

Fischer said one source for the need-based funding comes from donors and alumni who have recently made the aid a priority.

The aid could possibly increase in the future from both private and public funds, according to Fischer, in order to decrease the burden on students paying the increasing tuition bills.

“There’s always hope that the federal and state government will be able to increase funding, but it needs to be substantially more,” Fischer said. “State dollars aren’t coming back enough to hold up the students who rely on those funds.”