The head of the Wisconsin private school system called Wednesday for a more equal distribution of financial aid among the private, technical and University of Wisconsin systems.

During a taping of Wisconsin Eye, the heads of the three higher education institutions publicly discussed educational issues regarding financial aid for the first time.

At the filming were Rolf Wegenke, president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; Kevin Reilly, president of the University of Wisconsin System and Daniel Clancy, president of Wisconsin Technical College System.

“I’m hard-pressed to explain why both technical colleges and private colleges have less aid program when they have so many poorer students,” Wegenke said.

According to Wegenke, UW financial aid has gone up nearly 18 percent annually over the last six years, the technical schools’ financial aid has gone up 4 percent and the private schools’ have risen by less than 3 percent.

Wegenke said one reason for the difference is that each sector of Wisconsin higher education has its own financial aid program.

“I would consolidate this all into one program, where a student is a student is a student,” Wegenke added. “If they have need and are college material, then they will have support and the opportunity.”

Wegenke added he supports a request to the Legislature to increase financial aid for the UW System by $24 million, increase financial aid for Wisconsin technical schools by $14 million and increase the financial aid for students attending private Wisconsin colleges by $9 million.

Although this request still calls for disproportional funding among the three educational sectors and is $90 million less than the amount required by the Wisconsin private schools to meet their financial needs, the proposal would still be an improvement from their current situation, according to Wegenke.

He added investing this amount into the private system would not only benefit students that attend private institutions but would benefit the state as a whole, as well.

“Income levels are dependent on education levels,” Wegenke said. “If we are going to get the state working again we have got to invest in education.”

According to Reilly, the real issue is the state having enough money for aid to cover tuition for all the students in need.

“It’s not an issue of us versus them,” Reilly said. “It’s what is the state going to be able to do to afford what’s needed by the students.”

Reilly added the people hit hardest in today’s economy are those with the least advanced education and making higher education economically and financially possibly for students and families should be a top priority.

He also said that the next generation of students may be the first generation to receive a lesser education than their parents.

“The current trends are very disturbing,” Reilly added. “We’re in a time where the way wealth is accumulated is based on knowledge. We need to get more and more of our population through a postsecondary education.”

The show is available to viewers on the Wisconsin Eye website today and tomorrow at www.wisconsineye.org.