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The University of Wisconsin-Madison has announced a new program that will give free tuition for four years to low-income families.
The new program, called Bucky’s Tuition Promise, guarantees free tuition and no fees for eight semesters for incoming freshmen and four semesters for transfer students who come from low-to-moderate income homes. Qualifying homes make no more than $56,000 annually.
Currently, in-state tuition and fees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are $10,533 per year.
via Chicago Tribune:
“Many low- and middle-income families in Wisconsin simply don’t know whether they can afford to come to UW-Madison,” Chancellor Rebecca Blank said as she announced the pledge during a UW System regents meeting Thursday. “Indeed, if they just read the popular press about student debt and sky-rocketing tuition their assumption will be that they can’t. We want to make it very clear to low- and moderate-income families in Wisconsin that we’re going to do everything we can to make this an affordable school.”
UW officials anticipate more than 800 students in each new incoming class of freshmen and transfer students will take advantage of the pledge. They estimate the plan will cost about $825,000 per year. By the time four classes of students join the initiative it will cost about $3.3 million annually.
Bucky’s Tuition Promise is set to begin this fall. Six other Big Ten schools — Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue — offer a similar program.
