Two state lawmakers unveiled a proposal in Memorial Union Monday to “freeze” in-state tuition costs for students who receive financial aid.
State Reps. Spencer Black, D-Madison, and Joe Parisi, D-Madison, introduced legislation that would increase the amount received from financial aid, like the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant, to match the amount tuition increases in a year.
Black said in-state UW System tuition has increased by over 126 percent in the last 10 years, raising to nearly $6,000.
He said Legislature’s failure to pass a state budget over 100 days last fall also showed how financial aid needed to be strengthened.
The budget delay kept more than 6,000 students waiting to find out about financial aid for several months, according to Black.
“The first victims of a budget delay are students receiving financial aid,” Black said.
Black said the proposal would cost around $27 million, but would only be a small part of a $60 billion state budget.
The proposal was introduced in a previous legislative session and failed, but Parisi said he was hopeful because it was included in one version of the governor’s budget, only to be taken out later.
According to Parisi, he and Black were going to work hard to make sure action was taken on the bill before the Legislative session ends in early summer.
Parisi said the average undergraduate leaves college with $21,000 in student loan debt.
The money students use to pay off debt, Parisi said, could be better used to help invigorate the economy.
“The way you grow an economy is to reduce debt and invest in your people,” Parisi said.
State Rep. Kim Hixson, D-Whitewater, also endorsed the legislation. As a professor at UW-Whitewater, he said he had repeatedly seen students forced to drop out of college due to tuition costs.
UW-Madison third year graduate student Jane Wierzbicki attended the event and said she supported the bill. She said she was forced to pay for all of her first year of graduate school with student loans.
“I really believe in this bill,” she said.
