Assembly minority leader Spencer Black, D-Madison, joined UW System’s student governing body, United Council and the Associated Students of Madison Monday to support a statewide campaign to link financial aid with increases in tuition.

Assembly Bill 194 and Senate Bill 79 would tie state funding for financial aid to tuition increases, allowing students to receive more financial aid to help with increased tuition.

“We decided to give this important issue the dedication and commitment it deserves. We are pledging our statewide resources to passing this bill into law,” said Matt Fargen, president of United Council.

Craig Trost, legislative affairs director of United Council, said because the state has a $1.1 billion deficit and the governor has proposed to cut $51 million from the UW System, it is increasingly important to match tuition increases with financial aid.

“At a time when UW students are facing tuition hikes at a minimum of 10 percent next year, it is all the more imperative to increase funding for financial aid at the same rate,” Trost said.

Austin Evans, campaign coordinator for ASM, said ASM supports the bills because increases in tuition without matching increases in financial aid affect students’ ability to come to UW and diminishes the time students can devote to their education.

“We want to get back to the reason why we are here,” Evans said. “The root of it is, there is a concern that as tuition increases, we are losing students.”

Evans said for every $100 increase in tuition, 2.2 percent of students are no longer able to afford the cost of tuition.

According to Evans, the average UW System student needs about $1,585 more than they are receiving in financial aid. One reason is that the cost of food and living is not factored into the cost.

The average debt after graduation has doubled since 1985, and the average UW System student is over $15,000 in debt by the time they graduate.

UW students are more in debt than other UW System students.

“The average UW System student is $15,100 in debt when they graduate, but here at UW, students leave about $1000 more in debt,” Evans said.

When the cost of tuition increases and financial aid does not follow, students are forced to work more, borrow more money and study less, he added.

“It affects [students’] study habits,” Evans said. “When students have to work more [to pay for school], it takes away time spent on educating and studying.”

With a slowing national economy and recession, it is common for people to return to school to gain new skills.
“When people all over the state are feeling the effects of the slow economy, we need to make sure that there is proper funding in place to ensure that people can return to school,” Black said. “Fighting for tomorrow’s economy starts with financial aid today.”
The campaign is also being carried out by UW-Whitewater and UW-Waukesha and has been endorsed by member schools of the United Council.