Noted: Meghan Savaglia is a spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student government group, the Associated Students of Madison. She told Wisconsin Public Radio students have shared a wide range of reactions about the president’s announcement with one wondering if potential students might have thought more about college knowing some of their debts would be forgiven in the future. She said others indicated that loan forgiveness will help them provide better futures for their families.
“I know that there is definitely a push for more, at least from what I’ve seen,” Savaglia said. “While this is a relief in many ways, there’s a long way to go in terms of solving this problem.”
On Aug. 18, the UW System Board of Regents approved a two-year budget request that includes a tuition waiver program for students from low-income families. If approved by the state Legislature, the Wisconsin Tuition Promise would waive tuition costs left over after federal and state financial aid for those from families making less than $62,000 per year in fall of 2023 and beyond.
The program is modeled after UW-Madison’s Bucky’s Tuition Promise program, which has used private donations since 2018 to offer four years of free tuition and fees for students from families with adjusted gross incomes of $56,000 or less.
Former UW System President Tommy Thompson was the first to pitch the statewide tuition waiver as part of his 2020 UW System budget request, but it was rejected by Republican members of the state Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee.
