Both Gov. Jim Doyle and state Rep. Rob Kreibich, R-Eau Claire, have recently introduced education initiatives sparking debate among students, guidance counselors and politicians alike.
In the State of the State Address, Doyle unveiled plans to revamp financial aid for incoming college freshmen. Under his Wisconsin Covenant, eighth graders that sign a pledge to stay in school, take challenging courses, maintain a B-average and stay out of trouble will be guaranteed a financial aid package to attend a UW campus.
'The Wisconsin Covenant is a far superior proposal because it raises student aspirations to attend college, challenges students to graduate from high school strongly prepared for college-level coursework and guarantees them tuition at any UW institution,' said Doyle spokesperson Anne Lupardus. 'It is a plan to increase college access and college success. It is a plan to grow the number of college degree-holders in Wisconsin to fuel the knowledge economy and increase the wealth of state residents.'
Kreibich said he believes the problem with Doyle's plan is that it assumes admission, while his own initiatives would guarantee it.
'All the financial aid programs in the world are great,' Kreibich said. 'But if you don't get into the school, you can't take advantage of those financial aid programs.'
Under Kreibich's plan, if high school seniors have taken three years of math and science, score a 25 on the ACT and graduate at the top 10 percent of their class, they are guaranteed admission to the UW campus of their choice.
However, state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said he believes the state should keep out of university business.
'It's a terrible idea the Legislature dictate the academic decisions made by the university. That's a prescription for a bad quality university,' Black said.
Kreibich said many of the students this initiative effect will probably already be accepted into UW universities anyway, but that it is important to ensure the best students do not leave their home state.
'We want to retain a young intellectual talent. Those kids are likely to stay here when they graduate because their roots are here,' Kreibich said. 'All too often today we're seeing Wisconsin kids who are being rejected at UW campuses who have to go out of state and, frankly, you wonder if they ever come back.'
Lupardus said this initiative does nothing to help students and their families pay for college.
'Kreibich's plan would guarantee students admission to college but provide them no way to pay for it,' she said. 'The cost of college attendance is too important a problem to completely ignore.'
