Wisconsin is in a student debt crisis. Today, more than 750,000 Wisconsin citizens hold federal student loan debt, with thousands more facing massive amounts of debt from private lenders. The average student is graduating with $22,400 in student loans, paying nearly $400 a month for almost 19 years. They’re saddled with mountains of debt before they even walk across the commencement stage.
Depending on a part-time job to pay for college is no longer a viable option. In the past 12 years tuition has doubled for Wisconsin residents, meaning higher debt loads for most students who want to pursue a college degree. Few are fortunate enough to have help from their families, others have scholarships and grants, but so many students receive no assistance at all.
This student debt crisis is the reason that the 2014 governor’s race is perhaps the most important election for students in our state’s recent history. Never before has there been such a contrast between two candidates for governor. Students will choose Nov. 4 between Gov. Scott Walker, a career politician with a long history of ignoring Wisconsin students, and Mary Burke, a businesswomen with a real, long-term plan to make college affordable.
During his first term, Walker sent Wisconsin students a clear message: college affordability is not a priority. Instead working to lessen the burden of student debt, Walker cut $250 million from the University of Wisconsin System and reduced funding for the technical college system by 30 percent. In a transparently political attempt to disguise the impact of his cuts until after the 2014 election, Walker also implemented a two-year tuition freeze. Unfortunately for students, this freeze is only temporary and does nothing to make college affordable in the long-term. After the freeze expires, tuition will rise again, as the UW System struggles to deal with the impact of Walker’s unprecedented cuts to higher education. It’s clear that a career politician like Walker only panders to students when he’s worried about his re-election chances. When it comes to finding real long-term solutions, Walker simply doesn’t care.
Burke, on the other hand, has a real long-term plan to lessen the burden of student loan debt. As a businesswoman, Burke knows that having a well-educated workforce is the only way Wisconsin can remain competitive in today’s economy. That’s why she dedicated an entire section of her “Invest for Success” job creation plan to making college affordable. Her common-sense solutions include allowing students to refinance their loans to get lower interest rates, deduct college tuition payments from taxes and increase how much they can deduct on state tax forms. She also supports increased state funding for higher education so the UW System can maintain its high standard of education and give more in financial aid.
The race is still in a dead heat, but a recent Marquette University poll found that young Wisconsinites already support Burke over Walker 48 to 35 percent. Young Wisconsinites are tired of drowning in student loan debt and watching as Walker offers them nothing but empty rhetoric and election year political posturing. With just a few weeks until Election Day, it’s time for students across Wisconsin to unite behind Burke, a proven leader with a plan to make college affordable.
