When I arrived at UW-Madison last semester, I held the naïve opinion that class stratification was not a large problem on campus. While my experiences so far have drastically changed my mind, I think that Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s new financial assistance program for low-income students, called “Bucky’s Tuition Promise,” was a step in the right direction.
Beginning in the fall of 2018, any incoming freshman whose annual household adjusted gross income is $56,000 or less will have their tuition and segregated fees covered by UW-Madison. Bucky’s Tuition Promise will not involve any taxpayer dollars and will be funded solely by private gifts and institutional funding.
Expecting to see joy over a program that would benefit so many deserving students, I began reading the comments both on UW-Madison’s page and several news outlets about the new program.
Instead, I was shocked to see a few positive comments washed out by a sea of negative ones. Over and over, I read as people lamented the unfairness of such a program, whether it was because it “punishes” those who work hard and therefore do not fall under the $56,000 household income limit, or because free tuition would promote laziness.
I would like to believe that these misconceptions are held because people are blind with jealousy at an opportunity they did not get to benefit from, rather than the comments being made with the intent of direct malice toward Wisconsin’s low-income students.
I believe that many hateful commenters would have a change of heart if they spoke to a student who would benefit from such a program, like myself.
The insinuation that students who will benefit from these programs will not be motivated to succeed at UW-Madison is not only insulting but also blatantly incorrect.
A student cannot be eligible to receive funding unless they are admitted to UW-Madison, which is the most selective higher education institution in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction requires high school students to take the ACT, a college readiness test scored on a scale from 1-36. Data gathered by the testing agency showed that in 2016, students that reported a household income of less than $80,000 received an average ACT Composite score of 19.5.
According to UW-Madison’s Office of Admissions and Recruitment, the typical admitted student will usually score between 28-32 on the ACT, though there is not an official minimum requirement.
How does a student make up almost an 8-point deficit in order to get into the college of their dreams, especially if they come from an area where schools may be underfunded and overcrowded? Personally, I bought used test-prep books and constantly completed practice tests after finishing my homework in order to prepare for test day.
First-generation, low-income students like myself are some of the most resourceful and diligent students I know, traits born out of necessity in order to keep up with everyone else. We cannot afford, literally or figuratively, to let any opportunities pass us by.
Many critics of the policy also seemed to equate the privilege of attending UW-Madison with the privilege of working hard to finance your own education. Students will never learn the value of hard work if they are constantly given handouts, said the peanut gallery.
I am here to report tuition is far from the only cost associated with going to college. Students also need to eat (with UW Housing’s $1,400 meal plan putting an even larger burden on students next fall), pay for books and school supplies and perhaps even enjoy a social event or two. There will always be reasons students will need to work, whether to support themselves or to support the family they left at home.
In addition, recipients of the grant must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA and stay on track to graduate in four years. People that disapprove of this new policy would prefer that poverty remains a hamster wheel—a cycle with no end. As soon as we work hard enough to get to the finish line, they move it, because the constant guilt of trying to decide if we can afford school is good for our character.
For critics of this program, talking to a low-income student would likely reveal that we don’t think the world owes us anything — if it did, the situations we came from would not have existed.
Opponents of the new tuition promise wish for equality for all students, giving every student the same type and amount of aid, when they should believe in equity, which provides the unique resources each student needs to succeed. However, a policy of equality only works when everyone starts from the same place and needs the same kind of help.
Without funding from programs like FASTrack, BANNER and Bucky’s Tuition Promise, I would not have been able to attend UW-Madison and become the first in my family to graduate college.
I am not in the business of proving my right to be at UW-Madison to anyone but myself. I’ll let my diploma do the talking.
Izzy is a freshman studying political science and education policy. What are your feelings towards UW’s new policy? Send comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
