One Wisconsin Now Enthusiastically Supports President Obama’s Proposal for Free Community College Tuition

MADISON, Wis. — One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross released the following statements on President Obama’s new plan to provide free technical college tuition to hardworking students.

“In my lifetime, technical college was free in Wisconsin and now our research shows a two-year degree saddles the average hardworking student with over 16 years of student loan debt. President Obama’s community college plan reiterates the nation’s character: that public education is a public good that the public supports. Higher education and job training must remain the ticket to success for working families and young people across the country and not a pathway to multiple decades of student loan debt.

“Elected officials like U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Gov. Scott Walker have failed to act in the interests of Wisconsin’s nearly one million student loan borrowers on plans to allow borrowers to refinance their loans, just like you can a mortgage. Johnson, Walker and their Republican colleagues ignore the needs of student loan borrowers, despite conclusive research the $1.2 trillion student loan crisis is crippling our economic might as a nation. The President recognizes the economic power and electoral might of one million student loan borrowers in Wisconsin and 40 million across the country who aren’t looking for a bailout, but are looking for their chance at the American Dream.”

One Wisconsin Institute’s nationwide student loan research on amount, length and impact on homeownership and new auto purchasing habits of student loan borrowers.

One Wisconsin Institute’s Wisconsin-based student loan research.