Contact: Austin Altenburg
media@scottwalker.com

Policy rollout includes TV ad to highlight how New Graduate Tax Credit will help keep our graduates here in Wisconsin, make college more affordable

[Madison, Wis.] – Scott Walker today unveiled the second policy proposal of his agenda to keep Wisconsin working for generations to come, describing his plan to offer a New Graduate Tax Credit for our college graduates – an initiative designed to make college more affordable and keep our graduates here. As part of the governor’s policy rollout, the Walker campaign launched his next statewide TV ad and provided a policy paper detailing the proposal that the governor will be discussing across the state over the next few weeks.

The New Graduate Tax Credit of up to $1,000 per year for up to five years is targeted toward college graduates who will live and work in Wisconsin – to keep our kids close to home, and help build our workforce here in the state. This proposal also helps ensure Wisconsin’s graduates and Wisconsin residents receiving their postsecondary education out of state have an incentive to stay in Wisconsin afterward, or return home upon graduation. The governor’s tax credit is in addition to his plan to freeze in-state tuition another four years, after freezing it for the previous six.

You can watch the ad on the governor’s policy proposal, entitled “Close to Home” here. You can find more details on the plan in the Policy Paper here. The ad begins:​

Gov. Walker: How many of you are worried about paying for college?

I get it – that’s why we froze UW tuition for six years. I want to freeze it for another four, and make it possible to finish some degrees in three years.

How many of you have student loan debt?

Well, our plan provides up to $5,000 in tax credits for graduates who work in Wisconsin.

So we can keep all of you close to home.

The spot will run on television as well as on a range of online and social media platforms. It is the sixteenth ad the Walker campaign is running on the governor’s strong record of getting positive things done and his plans for more bold reform to keep Wisconsin working for generations to come.

Walker campaign ads have long highlighted the governor’s record on building our workforce, investing in education, jobs and the economy, Foxconn’s statewide economic impact, bringing down health care costs, support for rural communities, efforts to help students with disabilities, fighting the opioid epidemic, and more.

Key Facts on Scott Walker’s Plan to Make College More Affordable

  • This tax credit is targeted toward college graduates who will live and work in Wisconsin – to keep our kids close to home, and help build our workforce here in the state. It adds to the governor’s plan to freeze in-state tuition for an additional four years.
  • During the decade before Governor Walker and the Wisconsin State Legislature froze University of Wisconsin tuition, tuition had actually increased by 118%. Since tuition has been frozen, the average University of Wisconsin student has saved more than $6,300 over four years.
  • The goal of these initiatives has been to make the cost of college more affordable, while driving Wisconsin’s graduates to the careers and industries that need them.
  • In addition to freezing in-state tuition, Governor Walker:
    o   Worked with the UW System to start and expand the UW Flexible Option degree program for non-traditional students, as well as provided need-based financial aid for Flexible Option students.
    o   Funded emergency grants for UW and Technical College students experiencing a financial emergency.
    o   Required higher education institutions in Wisconsin to be transparent with their students on debt and cost of attendance.
    o   Increased need-based state financial aid by $15 million, making it the highest total need-based aid in state history.
    o   Created incentives for the UW System to ensure students graduate in four yearsand find a job in the industry in which they received their degree.
    o   Funded UW System enrollment initiatives for high-demand fields.
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