Following UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s unexpected tuition proposal last Thursday, chancellors from UW System universities largely praised the opportunity it would provide to students on their campuses, while some questioned if the plan would decrease enrollment at smaller system schools.
Blank announced she would seek to provide free tuition for at least one year to first-generation UW-Madison students who transfer from community colleges. Transfer students who qualify for Pell grants would be eligible for two years of free tuition under the proposal.
“[First-generation students are] a substantial part of the Wisconsin population that needs more skills, and we want to provide them with that opportunity to come to UW-Madison,” Blank said.
Some members of other UW administrations said the proposal caught them off guard, but most expressed support for the idea in theory.
Joe Gow, the chancellor of UW-La Crosse, said he had not known about Blank’s proposal before her announcement, but he thinks it is a “wonderful idea.”
“That’s a great deal, coming to UW-Madison for free,” Gow said. “I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for taking advantage of that.”
UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt heralded Blank’s efforts to make college more affordable for students who need it most.
“I firmly believe that college needs to be affordable and applaud efforts by UW System leaders across the state who are responding to this need on behalf of Wisconsin students and families,” Leavitt said. “Chancellor Blank is no exception, and I appreciate her efforts to provide more students access to educational opportunities.”
A spokesperson for UW-Eau Claire, Michael Rindo, said the school currently has “no concerns” about Blank’s proposal.
However, not all UW System schools are in favor of the proposal as it stands. Bob Meyer, the chancellor of UW-Stout, expressed worry that his school would lose a substantial number of students if it is approved.
“We have 1,093 current students who fit into the category of being first-generation transfer students from Wisconsin. That is 11.3 percent of our current enrollment of 9,619,” Meyer said. “It only stands to reason that we would lose some of those students if they could attend UW-Madison essentially free.”
Meyer said that if the proposal moves forward for consideration, “It should be designed to help students in similar circumstances on other campuses, like UW-Stout.”
Even though he supports the idea of Blank’s policy, Gow also said he is not sure where funding for such an initiative would come from.
“It obviously would require some pretty substantial resources, so I’m not sure what the funding would be for that,” Gow said, adding that he did not know whether the state would offer money for the proposal.
Blank said Thursday that her proposal hinges on receiving financial support from the state government.
