Over the next week, the Wisconsin Budget Project will be highlighting a different piece each day from our larger publication Breaking with Tradition: How Wisconsin Lawmakers Have Shortchanged a Legacy of Investment in the State’s Future. You can access the full report on our website.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Wisconsin can create jobs and build a better economy for everyone by investing in our state’s higher education system and increasing the number of people in Wisconsin who have college degrees. Right now, only 26% of Wisconsin adults have a four-year college degree, compared with 29% nationally, according to the Census Bureau. Some neighboring states like Minnesota (32%) and Illinois (31%) also have higher shares of their population with college degrees than Wisconsin.

Despite the growing importance of higher education to economic success, the Legislature has cut investments in our university system over the last four years. This contributed to tuition hikes of 5.5% in 2012 and again in 2013. Since then, tuition has been frozen as the state spends down university system reserve funds.

In 2011, the Legislature eliminated in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants who are otherwise qualified Wisconsin students. This move saved very little public money, but made it much harder for undocumented students to attend college. In Wisconsin, in-state undergraduate students pay about $10,000 per year to attend UW-Madison, while out-of-state students – and now undocumented students who grew up in Wisconsin – pay $27,000 per year.

The Legislature also made deep cuts to the technical college system at a time of rising enrollments. Lawmakers reduced support for students by about $45 million a year between 2010 and 2014, based on amounts budgeted for the technical college system in the state’s two-year budget bill.

You can access the rest of the report here.