Wisconsin Must do Better

EPS 518 Twitter Blog #1 — David Gardner 9/29/14

For my twitter blog I read the article “Harvard is better at admitting low-income students than the University of Wisconsin” by Libby Nelson (http://www.vox.com/2014/9/18/6336937/college-social-mobility-undermatching-public-universities). This article summarizes recent data that shows that many (actually most) major private universities have a better rate of admitting low-income students than ‘elite’ public universities. It follows a New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/09/upshot/09up-college-access-index.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1), which ranked the top 101 colleges in economic diversity, and found that 98 of them are private colleges. Another study also showed that Wisconsin is near the bottom of the list in percentage of students at public universities that are Pell grant recipients (15%). The article points out that while larger public colleges serve more students because of the fact that they have larger student bodies, at the same time they are often more oriented towards serving state populations in alignment with their mission. The article also points out developments in the California school system to ensure low-income students are served, through the creation of a separate statewide grant program, and high income thresholds for earning financial aid (despite recent budget cuts to the system).

These statistics correlate to our readings that point out immense inequalities in income and educational attainment (Bailey and Dynarski 2011). Showing an increase in income inequality in higher education, the authors demonstrated a clear need for policy change that better serves low income students, and that provides opportunities for attainment that lead to closing gaps in later generations.

The growing evidence of inequality in higher education demonstrates a clear need for public colleges to be hallmarks of economic diversity in their states, and Wisconsin is no exception. I believe this cannot be done without a combination of greater public investment of education and reform of how financial aid is distributed.

Many public schools face increasing cuts from states, which inhibit revenue to provide appropriate financial aid packages. In addition, federal grants are becoming limited for students, making the need for financial aid greater. But despite this, systems like California are retaining rankings as top values, especially for low-income students. Facing the same cuts, the system makes economic diversity a priority and provides income thresholds which are more flexible and ensure there are options for all groups of prospective students. I think the University of Wisconsin (and public institutions) need to consider major reforms to better supply financial aid to low income students. This should ideally be a plan that would make up income not covered by grants below a certain level of income.

In order for this plan to be sustainable, states need to provide methods to guarantee levels of funding for universities. Recently, when UW’s financing practices came under scrutiny, the university faced major cuts and capped tuition levels. Because of this lack of sustainable revenue from state investment, they cannot guarantee financial aid at a substantial level that promotes economic diversity. A policy to allow more flexibility from UW would tie state funding more directly to the university system, that prevents drastic cuts. While a policy like this may be controversial, it would reflect good public policy and an investment in the state’s neediest students, which improves the value of the system to the state. In turn, this would improve the promise UW provides to the state to provide options for students who most need an education.

In addition, such reform would be a step toward helping ‘non-traditional’ students, who return to gain an education, or balance education with other commitments like family and work, which often requires that they take longer to obtain a degree. This would also require reform to ensure that policies surrounding grants that limit nontraditional students from eligibility are not prohibitive to enrollment. For example, the public university system should be moving in the direction of ultimately covering gaps in grants that do not take into account ‘nontraditional’ students’ unique situations and requirements to obtain a degree.

In summary, I believe this article points out a systemic problem that is not solely the blame of our institution in particular. The state and University of Wisconsin System are clearly not fulfilling their role to make education accessible to the state of Wisconsin, and major reform to financial aid policy is required to stop the growth of income inequality in education. While this would be a bold step in public financing, it is a necessary one that Wisconsin needs to step up and take.