Tuition and fee costs will be waived at UW Madison, for Wisconsin students from families with incomes below the state median. “Bucky’s Tuition Promise” will be funded with private donations and other sources like licensing royalties, not tax dollars.
Announced at Thursday’s UW System Board of Regents meeting, it pledges to cover four year’s tuition and fees for all in-state students who are accepted to the university and come from families with a yearly household income of $56,000 or less. That’s roughly the median family income in Wisconsin.
“Many low-and middle-income families in Wisconsin are simply uncertain whether they can afford to send their child to UW-Madison,” said UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank “Our goal is to ensure that anyone who is admitted can afford to be a Badger.”
The guarantee begins in the fall of 2018 for incoming freshmen and transfer students. It’s expected to cover more than 800 students in each new incoming class of freshmen and transfers.