Tuition, debt jump at Wisconsin technical colleges

Figures show many students
facing bigger financial challenges

APPLETON, Wis. — Tuition and debt have jumped at Wisconsin’s technical colleges, which are supposed to provide a more affordable option for career training than four-year universities or for-profit schools. 

U.S. Department of Education figures show many tech school students are facing bigger financial challenges than a few years ago. 

At Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, tuition and fees increased by about 25 percent in the past 10 years. The average amount borrowed by graduates of the school jumped by about $5,300 from 2007 to 2015, the Post Crescent reports.

Experts say it isn’t necessarily the rising price tag that leads to financial struggles for technical and community college students. Of those who take out loans, most borrow less than $10,000, and those who default often owe less than $5,000.

“Research shows a lot of community college students who don’t repay loans only enrolled in about a semester of courses,” said Nicholas Hillman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison associate professor who studies student loan debt. “Dropping out with no degree and debt is a problem. The typology of the student borrowing a whole lot — say to go to medical school — is not as big of a policy problem as the students who are borrowing because they have no other options. I worry about the small borrowers.”