UW System Proposal Waives Tuition for Low-Income Students
Could have biggest impact on UWM students, chancellor Mark Mone says.
UWM Sandburg Residence Halls. Photo by Christopher Hillard.
The University of Wisconsin System announced on Monday that it is establishing a program to allow students to attend any university within the system without paying tuition or fees.
The program — modeled after Bucky’s Tuition Promise, which was started at UW-Madison in 2018 and had its first class of students graduate in May — will launch in the fall of 2023 and is aimed at expanding access to college for students who come from low-income families or are the first members of their families to attend college.
“The benefits of a college education are unassailable,” Rothman said. “A college degree needs to be within reach for every Wisconsin citizen as a path to a better life, and the Wisconsin Tuition Promise will provide these opportunities. It is also how we can close the skills gap that now limits Wisconsin’s potential to thrive in a global economy.”
The program, according to the UW System, will provide up to four years of tuition and fee funding for students whose families make less than $62,000 a year and are enrolled at one of the 12 UW schools outside of Madison. Recipients must also be Wisconsin residents, first-time college enrollees and have been employed at some point in the previous year. Students will be automatically considered for the program when they apply for federal financial aid.
The program will fund eight semesters of tuition and fees for students seeking bachelor’s degrees, four semesters for students seeking associate’s degrees. Transfer students are also eligible, according to the system.
Last year, Gov. Tony Evers and interim UW System President Tommy Thompson attempted to expand the tuition promise program statewide in the system’s budget request to the state Legislature but the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance cut the program from the version of the biennial budget that was eventually passed.
The UW-Madison version of the program is funded through private donations and other university resources, not through the state budget.
According to the system, the program will provide “last dollar” support, helping students fill the gap between what they receive through federal and state grants and scholarships and the total price of attending college. Because of this, the amount each student receives will vary though the system estimates students will receive an average of $4,500 over four years.
Rothman said at the Monday event that he estimates around 8,000 students will be served by the program as it’s rolled out over four years. Last year, the tuition promise program at UW-Madison helped 961 new students enroll at the school.
The high number of low-income students at UW-Milwaukee makes the tuition promise program especially important for its campus, Chancellor Mark Mone said.
“The Wisconsin Tuition Promise comes at a pivotal time for our students and families who are faced with increasingly challenging economic circumstances. At UW-Milwaukee, we have the highest numbers of Pell Grant recipients, military and veteran students, and students with unmet financial needs,” Mone said in a statement. “Our promise will enable access to the quality of life that so many in our population deserve.”
UW System announces program to pay tuition and fees for underserved students was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.
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A very welcome innovation in educational funding achieved despite predictable Republican opposition. Bravo!
agreed. the public universities in America need to get back to prior system of discounting instead of charging 100% and making parents take out Plus loans.
Room & Meals are stl a cost for UW….. and the kids will need to max out on the Stafford Loans.
$23k is cap on subsidized loans for undergrad, and $31k for unsubsidized. = $54k max student loans available.
$10k is the 22/23 UWM Room & Meal cost x 4 years = $40k (if prices did not increase)
I’d expect to see the Room & Meal prices quickly accelerate to the Stafford Loan max amounts, and then rise in future years lock step w any increases to the Loan caps.
and….. If Biden wants to.make a difference for the future stability of the country’s educational system, he should kill the Plus prorgram before forgiving any student debt.