Wisconsin Covenant Scholars are each set to receive between $250 and $2,500 annually to help cover tuition costs, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Monday.
Joined by Chancellor Biddy Martin and UW System President Kevin Reilly at Memorial Library, Doyle said scholars will be eligible for grants for eight semesters and will receive funding based on their financial need.
The program offers students who make a pledge in eighth grade a spot at one of the UW System's 26 campuses if they maintain a ""B"" average, graduate from high school, stay on track with college prep courses and act as good citizens.
""This is a tremendous step forward for Wisconsin. It puts us as one of the leading states in the country in making sure that our young people who have worked hard and made their way into our great higher education colleges in this state can afford it,"" Doyle said.
With the first class of Covenant Scholars set to graduate high school in spring 2011, the question remains whether the next governor will commit to the program Doyle outlined.
Both Republican gubernatorial candidates have said they place high value on education but are unsure they can support a program that does not have sufficient funding.
""Promising college placement to tens of thousands of eighth graders without putting the necessary funding behind it is one of the worst examples of Gov. Doyle's broken covenants with the families of Wisconsin,"" Jill Bader, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's spokesperson, said in a statement.
Republican candidate Mark Neumann said education is one of his top priorities but he wants to know what money will be used to fund the program.
""There's a lot of really fine programs, but you have to be able to afford to pay for it,"" he said.
Doyle said two other states are moving forward with programs similar to the Covenant grants, both under Republican gubernatorial leadership.
""I guess I'm always a little amazed to watch just how partisan this all gets … to pull the rug out from under these students would be pretty hard to do,"" he said.
