Catching up on several higher education-related notes from this week:

** The University of Wisconsin-Madison put out a press release Friday noting that, according to statistics compiled by the National Science Foundation, the university is the nation's third-largest research institution as measured by dollars spent.

Research expenditures at UW-Madison for fiscal year 2008, the most recent figures available, total $882 million -- a jump of $41 million over fiscal 2007 expenditures.

The most recent NSF rankings show UW-Madison trails only Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at San Francisco.

According to the UW release, the NSF ranking reflects funding from all sources: federal, state and private. Of the $882 million spent by UW-Madison in fiscal 2008, $474 million came from federal sources, placing UW-Madison second on the list of federally funded research expenditures at public universities.

Other than Johns Hopkins, UW-Madison is the only institution that has ranked among the top five research universities for each of the past 20 years.

Due to this success, it's at least somewhat surprising UW-Madison Provost Paul DeLuca is proposing a potential restructuring of the university's research enterprise. Currently, research and graduate education are combined on the UW-Madison campus. One model being considered would basically split these entities, and UW-Madison would create a Vice Chancellor for Research position, while also retaining the Dean of the Graduate School post.

** If you live in this part of the state, the Madison Area Technical College portion of your tax bill is going up.

The MATC District Board voted Wednesday night to increase the tax levy on an average single family home in Madison (valued at $245,424) by $21.85 next year. That puts the MATC tax on the average home at $322.25.

MATC will collect a total of $94.9 million in taxes next year -- an 8.6 percent increase over this year.

That seems like a significant jump for taxpayers to absorb during these economically challenging times. Conversely, the college is trying to accommodate a 13 percent increase in enrollment. MATC also is about $23 million below the tax levy limit placed on technical colleges by the state.

The MACT district includes most of Columbia, Dane, Jefferson, Marquette and Sauk counties, and some school districts in seven other counties.

** Bucky Badger plays a starring role in a new children's book, "The Big Bucky Badger Mystery," which was written by 1993 UW-Madison graduate Chris Newbold.

In the book, Bucky visits many of Madison's most beloved landmarks, including Lake Mendota, the Memorial Union Terrace, the Capitol and the Vilas Zoo to solve the mystery of a missing game-day football. For more information, click here.

** According to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education, more than a third of the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who are enrolled in college this semester still have not received their education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. This information came to light during a Congressional hearing on the topic Thursday.

Keith Wilson, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' director of education services, reportedly said the department does not believe that any veterans have been forced to drop out of college because of the delays. But at least one veteran didn't go to college because he heard of the likely delay in payments.

** In a rush to earn a bachelor's degree? You might want to check out UW-Stout in Menomonie.

That university announced earlier this week that students in three majors will be given the option of completing their bachelor's degree in three years -- instead of the usual four or more.

This three-year program will begin in the fall of 2010. The majors offered will be psychology, business administration and hotel, restaurant and tourism. These are three of the largest programs on the UW-Stout campus.

"In these challenging economic times, we need to offer our students every avenue possible to complete their degrees quickly and get into the workforce," UW-Stout Chancellor Charles Sorensen said in a statement.

Under the plan, the three-year option would be an accelerated track for degree completion. But the university says it won't "be lowering any requirements for admissions, total credits to degree, general education and programs."

** Thanks to the success of a former state racing legend, UW-Milwaukee is getting a nice gift.

According to a Charlotte Observer article, the estate of the late NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki is donating $600,000 to the engineering department at UWM, Kulwicki's alma mater.

Kulwicki is a Wisconsin native who moved to the Charlotte, N.C., area in 1985 to run his own race team. He died in a plane crash in April 1993, one year after becoming the first college graduate to win a championship at NASCAR's top level.

He graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Kulwicki's estate also is donating $1.9 million to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte's motorsports engineering program. It is the largest gift ever given to that school's engineering college.

** Due to a nice gesture, UW-Madison sophomore Megan Six was named U.S. Sailing's Sailor of the Week.

Six was recognized after she gave up her boat to Michigan State sailor Lauren Knoles during last weekend's Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association's Singlehanded Championships at the South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee. The mast on Knoles' boat broke during this regional qualifier for nationals.

Knoles, who has placed 12th and fifth in previous nationals, wouldn't have qualified for this year's championship without Six's help. But Knoles was able to continue and did qualify.

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