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NEWS

First Lady touts new college access program

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Also by Carl Jaeger:

Many eager to pick chancellor (December 11, 2007)
Officials debate Wiley's legacy (December 10, 2007)
'No guarantee' in UW success (December 10, 2007)
New rules apply for UW seg fees (December 7, 2007)
Regents hear about booze, textbooks (December 7, 2007)

by Carl Jaeger

Monday, November 19, 2007

Wisconsin educational leaders and future college graduates launched the KnowHow2GO College Access Campaign for Wisconsin Friday.

The event took place at the Dane County Boys and Girls Club in Fitchburg, concluding with the launch of the KnowHow2GO website, while secondary education students simultaneously "launched" paper airplanes into the room.

The campaign encourages low-income middle and high school students in Wisconsin to be prepared and excited for their postsecondary education and provides students with multimedia tips and resources to achieve their goals.

"Middle school and high school students are telling us they want to go on to higher education — most of the students have career goals and dreams," said Wisconsin first lady Jessica Doyle, a former educator.

Doyle said regardless of how students choose to further their education past high school, there are many people supporting them throughout the process.

"Whether you plan to go to Madison Area Technical College or UW-Madison or Edgewood or UW-Whitewater, all of these schools are working together," Doyle said. "They are pledging to help you go to college, and they are committed to standing behind KnowHow2GO Wisconsin."

The four steps offered to future college students are titled "be a pain," "push yourself," "find the right fit" and "put your hands on some cash."

Other information available on the KnowHow2GO Wisconsin website, Doyle said, includes video testimonials and factual information meant to help guide students through a postsecondary education.

UW System President Kevin Reilly, who spoke at the launch, said a postsecondary education is becoming more and more necessary.

"KnowHow2GO is really a program designed to help make your future bright and our future bright as a state," Reilly said. "Going to college is really something you’re going to have to do in the 21st century."

Reilly added the campaign is about inspiring and motivating students to attend some type of post-high school education.

"We recognize that the process of preparing you to go and actually getting in and being successful when you get there is not a simple process," Reilly said. "Research showed first-generation kids have high aspirations to go to college, [but] don’t have clear information about what to do when you do get there."

Because of this, Reilly said, the KnowHow2GO site has interactive resources to answer questions future college students may have about a postsecondary experience.

Although the KnowHow2GO program is not connected to Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda — a plan to increase access to UW System schools and boost Wisconsin’s economy — Reilly said the two programs complement each other well.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said in addition to the website, the multi-year, multimedia campaign will include television and radio public service announcements and both outdoor and print ads.

The national campaign is sponsored by the Lumina Foundation for Education, the American Council on Education and the Ad Council, Giroux said.

Giroux added the KnowHow2GO Wisconsin campaign would be critical to the future of Wisconsin’s prosperity.

"It’s an issue of economics and an issue of quality of life," Giroux said. "People are beginning to understand now how the economy is really shifting toward a knowledge base and how one’s ability to have a high quality of life … in many ways depends on one’s educational attainment."

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