Student Success, Workforce Gains and Tuition Promise Bills to support students at Wisconsin Universities and Technical Colleges unveiled today
Legislative Democrats have introduced two bills to support student success, improve the affordability of higher education, and help develop Wisconsin’s workforce.
The group of legislators spearheading development of the “Higher Education Powers Wisconsin” Package include Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton); Senator Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton); Representative Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire); Representative Angela Stroud (D-Ashland); and Representative Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater).
“The Universities of Wisconsin and Wisconsin’s Technical Colleges are the incubators of lifesaving discoveries, training grounds for the scientists, engineers, healthcare workers, teachers, business leaders, and artists of tomorrow. Their graduates are the workforce whose talents and skills are vital to Wisconsin’s economic growth. The bills we are introducing today will help keep our homegrown talent here in Wisconsin, improve affordability and make higher education more attainable for more Wisconsin students and their families,” the Democratic legislators said in a joint statement.
The two bills introduced today are:
Student Success, Workforce Gains (LRB-4778): The bill provides the Universities of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Technical College System $10 million in each year of the 2025-2027 biennium to invest in student retention and talent development efforts, including academic and career advising and helping connect students to basic needs resources both on and off campus. These resources are helpful to all students, but can have the greatest positive effect for first-generation, veteran, and returning students.
Wisconsin Tuition Promise (LRB-4919): The Tuition Promise provides last-dollar, gap funding, after all federal grants and scholarships are calculated. It is for first-time, in-state students who have a household adjusted gross income of $71,000 or less and attend a Universities of Wisconsin school, other than UW-Madison which has the successful Bucky’s Tuition Promise already in place.
The bills and co-sponsorship memos can be found by clicking here.
