The brain-drain"" in Wisconsin that was a heated topic of debate during the gubernatorial campaign has pressured state legislators to find ways to keep college educated workers in state. Many students leave the state after graduating from the UW System.
A state commission will discuss a proposal Tuesday that could potentially help keep educated workers in Wisconsin.
The commission is discussing the possibility of completely waiving tuition for Wisconsin residents attending UW schools under the condition that they stay in the state for 10 years after graduation. The proposal was originally directed toward two-year colleges in Wisconsin, but the idea has been extended to four-year colleges.
Stephen Malpezzi, an economics professor at UW-Madison, said one of the problems is that ""a lot of students are attracted to dynamic cities when they graduate and are still single.""
He also said the problem might not be that graduates of UW schools aren't kept in the state, but that students from other top universities aren't coming into Wisconsin.
""The perception is that Milwaukee is not as dynamic as other cities,"" Malpazzi said. He attributed this problem to Wisconsin's image as being an agricultural state.
""We kind of shoot ourselves in the foot by making our state appear to be a place that you don't want to live in as a young graduate,"" he said.
The commission is aiming to keep college-educated workers in the state and boost the state economy, but Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said the plan has drawbacks.
""The [commission] thinks we will have a captive group of employers, and businesses will automatically locate here. That's just not the way it works,"" he said.
Mikalsen said the proposal could have an adverse impact, because the state cannot guarantee college students that they will have jobs in Wisconsin 10 years after they graduate. He said, ""that's the part of the equation that isn't there.""
Another concern with the commission's proposal is the cost of giving Wisconsin residents free tuition.
State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, member of the Committee on College and Universities, commented on this potential problem. ""I don't think anyone knows [the cost]. It would be costly, what that cost would be or how it would be paid for is not specified or not specified in detail.""
The main critiques about the state commissions proposal is that it would work in theory, but many details still need to be worked out.
Nass, the newly appointed Chair of the Committee on Colleges and Universities, said ""[the commission] having a discussion is okay"", but to ""expect to have some tough sledding ahead.
