According to a report issued Monday by the Institute for College Access & Success, national debt levels are climbing, with seven in 10 Wisconsin graduates amassing debt.
After increasing by 4 percent nationally and 2 percent statewide this year, the accumulated average debt of Wisconsin college graduates now stands at $29,460. Wisconsin has the fifth highest student debt average in the nation.
Though the problem is national, according to Debbie Cochrane, vice president of Institute for College Access & Success, the state’s culpability lies in a lack of grant aid, which overlooks the students and families who need help most.
"The money that's available to students to help them cover [tuition] that doesn't have to be repaid, is also lower," Cochrane told Wisconsin Public Radio.
State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, disagrees.
“[It’s] not only less grant
A proposed solution authored by Hansen and state Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, called the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” bill, garnered student support in a public hearing earlier this month, but later stalled in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The bill seeks to offer students a low-interest option allowing students to refinance debt through a new state agency. The bill also would include loan counseling and student tax breaks.
“To me, [the student debt situation] is a crisis,” said Hansen.
With a typical 20-year repayment process, Hansen described the important stepping stones debt displaces, like purchasing a car or house, potentially even delaying marriage and family planning.
“The ability to refinance your student loans is a simple issue; it should be bipartisan, even though we haven’t been able to get one Republican to help sponsor,” he said. Hansen hopes to “collaborate and compromise” bipartisanly after the elections to “help the people who have tried to live the American Dream.”
