The possibility of free tuition for University of Wisconsin students who promise to stay in state after graduation has raised many questions about the proposal’s potential implications.

If approved, the proposal would provide a free education for students who stay in Wisconsin for 10 years after their graduation from one of the University of Wisconsin’s four-year universities — or five years for a two-year university.

The commission was formed by UW-Extension Chancellor David Wilson and is independent of the UW System.

“This concept has a lot of great brain power behind it,” UW System spokesperson David Giroux said. “It’s a very big and bold idea that would require some pencil sharpening in order to get at the fine details.”

The specifics have not been laid out or discussed, according to Teri Venker, special spokesperson to Wilson.

“At this point, the chancellor hasn’t had time to discuss this with internal staff,” Venker said. “We’ve never used the words 'free tuition.’… We’re just trying to shape a shared vision as the university colleges and extensions move forward.”

Although the idea sounds good to many who may be bound for college, some legislators wonder where the funding will come from and how the entire process would work.

“It’s not clear yet how it would be applied in terms of when the alumni would be paid or how much, especially when considering the state’s current deficit,” said Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater. “The state would obviously have to track these individuals and how we’d do that is a huge question.”

Giroux said the program would be put in place as an incentive for businesses to flock to Wisconsin, while at the same time increasing the amount of tax money collected, since there would be an increase in the number of college graduates in state.

Despite the idea being in its early stages, Giroux said he is hopeful that the framework being laid will help to form a more complete picture for the idea.

“The real key is two-fold,” Giroux said. “One is the notion of issuing bonds to fund a program like this and then recouping this through the taxes from college graduates … while providing an incentive for students to stay in the state.”

Mikalsen said the idea would only serve to lower wages because there would be a large supply of college-educated individuals with minimal demand for them. He added the idea would stand little chance in the Legislature unless it was made more specific.

“It’s not an idea that will go anywhere in the Legislature,” Mikalsen said. “It may be possible for specific careers such as nursing, but that would only happen if we for some reason had an extreme need for those specific professionals in our state.”

With questions left unanswered, Mikalsen added the idea is unrealistic but said he was anxious to see the proposal in its final form.

“No employer comes to a state simply because there are a lot of college graduates there,” Mikalsen said. “We need to broaden our profile and increase jobs for individuals who have college degrees, but also individuals who don’t have college degrees.”