UW-L Chancellor Gow on tuition-free program beginning next year

President Biden’s federal plan to reduce student debt has been making headlines, but here in Wisconsin, the UW System announced its own plan to provide tuition assistance to low income families.

Recently, UW System president Jay Rothman announced the Wisconsin Tuition Promise Program, which would waive most tuition for families that make under $62,000 a year.

After the announcement, Chancellor Joe Gow was on La Crosse Talk PM discussing what this means for students attending UW-La Crosse.

The program originally started at UW-Madison, but has now been expanded to all UW System schools. Students who are eligible will be able to get tuition waived on what is remaining after receiving their FAFSA aid.

“It’s what’s called a ‘last dollar’ financial aid program,” Gow said. “So the student applies for financial aid from the federal and state government, gets those monies and then whatever isn’t covered is what we fill in the gap with.”

It is estimated that several hundred students at UW-L will be able to take advantage of the program. Income eligibility is based on their dependency status on federal taxes. It is the same dependency status as what is reported to FAFSA.

Students have to apply for the program their freshman year and must be a first-time student. They also must be a Wisconsin resident.

Right now the program is funded by the UW System, and students have to renew their application each year, but the hope is that it will eventually get funded by the state, in which case-eligible students would be automatically re-enrolled. 

Students also have to maintain a good academic standing, which is above a 2.0 GPA, to continue to receive the aid.

“We have people who are very skilled at tracking that, and if students are getting too low, they will say ‘Hey let’s get together and talk, and how can we help you do a bit better in your coursework,’” Gow explained. “I think that a student who started in this program, and if they were really making an effort and working with us, they would be fine.”