The University of Wisconsin Athletic Board on Friday unanimously approved athletics' spending authority of more than $132.4 million for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The increase of 8.7 percent from the 2016-17 year is paying for a number of items, UW associate athletic director for business operations Mario Morris said.
Included are higher salaries and fringe benefits for some of the school's coaches and more resources for student-athlete development and welfare programs.
Escalating financial aid costs because of paying the full cost of attendance and tuition increases for out-of-state students also factored in, Morris said.
Spending on major capital projects is also increasing by 46 percent over 2016-17, to $11.