Wisconsin Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) authored a bill in the Wisconsin legislature that seeks to stop colleges and universities in Wisconsin from reducing the financial aid they offer students when those students receive private scholarships.
This bill could be incredibly useful at universities across Wisconsin, but, it won’t be possible to take such action while the state legislature continues to hold funding from the Universities of Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, if a student receives any funding for private scholarships — those that are not provided by the college they are planning to attend — that university can decrease that individual’s financial aid packet, according to WQOW. This applies even when the student still has a tuition balance after their private scholarships.
Sortwell, authored Assembly Bill 86 to stop this from happening. Sortwell believes this decrease in financial aid is unfair to students, most of whom work hard to receive those private scholarships. Assembly Bill 86 would prevent universities from lowering financial aid for students who received $5,000 or less in private scholarships.
According to WQOW, the University of Wisconsin–Madison claims the bill, if passed, could be confusing to parents and institutions, and that it does not agree with the definition of financial need from the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid.
The Federal Student Aid office defines financial need as the difference between a student’s cost of attendance and their Expected Family Contribution, which is typically calculated through the FAFSA. Thus students with more private scholarships would be considered to have less financial need as a result of said scholarship.
This bill is not unique, and in fact there have been bills passed to end scholarship displacement in California, New Jersey and Maryland, according to WQOW.
Ultimately, Assembly Bill 86 could be incredibly beneficial to those students who receive multiple private scholarships and need financial assistance. But if the State Assembly wants to pass this bill, they need to return funding to the Universities of Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin State Legislature cut $32 million in state funding from the Universities of Wisconsin over the summer as an attack against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. More recently, the Assembly is withholding pay increases for Universities of Wisconsin employees.
These attacks on the Universities of Wisconsin are led primarily by Republicans in the Assembly. If Sortwell wants this legislation to be realistic for Wisconsin universities to provide such financial aid to deserving students, they need more funding.
Certainly the Universities of Wisconsin are not the only higher education institutions in Wisconsin, but they are a big piece of them. And while currently funded under budget, the Universities of Wisconsin simply can’t offer as much financial support to students who need it.
Emily Otten ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.
