Gov. Scott Walker No Friend to Wisconsin Technical Colleges or Students
Career Politician Supported Budgets Hiking Tuition 56 Percent in State Legislature, Imposed 30 Percent State Funding Cut as Governor
MADISON, Wis. — The legislature’s budget committee today takes up the Wisconsin Technical College System in their deliberations on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2017-19 state budget. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted that career politician Scott Walker has a long record of sticking it to technical college students, either fresh from high school or as adults returning to upgrade their job skills.
“Gov. Walker may be proposing a budget that he wants to use to run for re-election, but he can’t hide from his atrocious record of hiking technical college tuition and leaving students eligible for financial aid with none,” said Ross.
As a member of the state legislature from 1993 to 2001, career politician Scott Walker voted for budgets that increased technical college tuition by over 56 percent. According to figures from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau technical college tuition was from $1,230 in the 1992-93 academic year, before Walker entered the legislature and rose to $1,920 in 2001-02 academic year, the last year covered by a budget for which he voted.
| Year | Cost | Percent Increase |
| 1992-93 | $1,230.00 | N/A |
| 1993-94 | $1,309.50 | 6.5% |
| 1994-95 | $1,383.00 | 5.6% |
| 1995-96 | $1,446.00 | 4.6% |
| 1996-97 | $1,536.00 | 6.2% |
| 1997-98 | $1,626.00 | 5.9% |
| 1998-99 | $1,710.00 | 5.2% |
| 1999-00 | $1,777.50 | 3.9% |
| 2000-01 | $1,845.00 | 3.8% |
| 2001-02 | $1,920.00 | 4.1% |
| Tuition Hike | $690.00 | 56.1% |
Source: LFB, 1/2003
As part of his first budget as governor, Walker made the biggest cut to public education in state history, including a reduction of 30 percent in state support for the Wisconsin Technical College System.
In addition, the Walker administration has dramatically underfunded financial aid. The result has been tens of thousands of students eligible for assistance, many of whom attend technical colleges, receive none.
As with students, Gov. Walker has shown he is no friend of technical college graduates who worked hard to get their education and took on the personal responsibility to pay for it. Since it’s introduction in 2013, Walker has opposed the state Higher Ed, Lower Debt Act to help borrowers refinance student loans, just like you can with a mortgage.