Governor Jim Doyle's recent budget proposal includes a provision that would offset tuition increases for qualifying University of Wisconsin students whose parents make less than $60,000 a year.
The plan, which would be in effect for the next two years if approved, would affect roughly 25,000 current students who currently receive Wisconsin Higher Education Grants. This plan would increase the amount given to the WHEG program by $24 million.
In addition, Doyle has proposed a $12 million aid program that could assist another 13,000 students who make less than $60,000 but do not qualify for the WHEG program.
"My budget sees education as our most important function…our schools have to be accessible and they have to be able to prepare our students to compete with the world," Doyle stated in his budget address.
Doyle also said that his budget would include $25 million for the Wisconsin Covenant, a program that would help to ensure the high school class of 2011, and all subsequent classes, will be able to afford higher education through financial aid.
According to the UW System executive director of communications and external relations David Giroux, the proposed plan will be supplementing existing financial aid plans.
"It adds on a new layer of protection," said Giroux, who said that the aid will be distributed by the Higher Educational Aids Board.
Giroux also feels that the aid will be good for the UW System as a whole.
"It's important to send a message that college is a viable and affordable option," Giroux said.
However, Giroux does acknowledge that this aid comes alongside other cuts in the educational program, to close the state's budget gap. While students will be better able to afford going to school in the UW system, they will face larger classes, less courses, and reduced student services as a result.
Cedric Lawson, legislative affairs director for the United Council of UW Students, an independent state student association, describes these cuts as "something we're not that excited about," but he says that he and the United Council are excited about the proposal as a whole.
"We're excited that our priorities were met," said Lawson.
Doyle's plan may not be the final form of this plan, however. Beatriz Contreras, director of financial aid at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, said that the UW System would be putting together a committee to discuss the specifics of the plan.
"The plan is in such an early stage I'm not sure exactly what shape it'll end up in," said Contreras, who will be one of the members of the UW System committee.
Contreras stated that specific terms hadn't been decided yet, but believed that it wouldn't take as long as another proposal would because this one is tied to the budget.
Samantha McGhee, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, supports the plan, regardless of how it turns out.
"It's important that students receive aid for education, because that's where the future of our country and economy lies," said McGhee.
She does have some reservations about the plan's exclusivity to Wisconsin students, however.
"I think that's sort of unfair, because out-of-state students are an integral part of Wisconsin's economy and educational system as well," said McGhee.