A study published Wednesday by UW-Madison graduate students suggested possible improvements to the Wisconsin Covenant, a program that works to increase the number of college-bound students in the state.
The Wisconsin Covenant, introduced by Gov. Jim Doyle in January 2006, encourages young students to plan for college early.
Eighth-grade students can sign a pledge in which they promise, among other things, to maintain at least a B average in college preparatory classes in high school. If they fulfill these requirements, they are guaranteed admission with federal financial aid to any public or private university in the state.
The study, which compares the Wisconsin Covenant to two similar programs in Georgia and Indiana, praises the goals of the initiative but suggests state-funded scholarships be added to make four-year universities more affordable for low-income students.
Elizabeth Stransky, a coordinator of the study and graduate student in Public Affairs at the UW-Madison, said the Wisconsin Covenant is a great starting point because it [gets] kids excited about college early.""
However, she said the federal funding provided for students is not enough.
""To make [the program] the most effective we would recommend state funding for scholarships targeted at low-income students.""
Although Stransky suggested changes, the effectiveness of the existing program is not yet known since the first students to take this pledge are still in high school.
""The exact impact will be difficult for anyone to know at this point, which is why '¦ we chose two states [to analyze] that have programs that have existed for over a decade,"" Stransky said, adding the results of these similar programs can predict those of the Wisconsin Covenant.
Stransky said the scholarships would ideally cover tuition and fees for four years. ""The cost of tuition and fees sometimes directly makes the decision for low-income students of attending and not attending. The Wisconsin Covenant has the opportunity to help those students.
