UW-Madison launching free tuition program for first-generation transfer students

A new program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to increase access to the state's flagship university by promising to cover tuition and fees for first-generation college students from Wisconsin who transfer from partner two-year state colleges.  

The first 139 students to benefit from the so-called Badger Promise already are on campus. They were being notified this week by the Office of Student Financial Aid that if other grants or merit scholarships don't completely cover their tuition and fees this year, the Badger Promise will pick up the rest, starting this fall.

The number of first-generation transfer students from Wisconsin expected to be helped each year by the Badger Promise is about 150.

Low-income, Pell Grant eligible students may receive two years of Badger Promise funding (currently $21,067 for full-time enrollment). Other students will be eligible for one year (currently $10,534 for full-time enrollment.) The average award, after other need-based aid received is applied, will be $4,800 per student, according to the university.

Funding will come from university, state, federal and private sources.  

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Badger Promise guarantees free tuition and fees to those who have successfully transferred from any of the two-year UW Colleges campuses or from liberal arts associate degree programs at Madison College (Madison Area Technical College), Milwaukee Area Technical College, Nicolet College, the College of Menominee Nation, and the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College.

The program does not cover the approximately $15,000 remaining total cost to attend a year of college for students who do not live at home — expenses such as room and board, books and other miscellaneous items. Students would have to come up with that money through loans, family contributions and jobs.

A large number of UW-Madison's transfer students are from the Madison area and will continue to live at home, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Blank said it's relatively inexpensive to complete the first two years of a four-year degree at a two-year college.

The chancellor said she hopes Badger Promise also will encourage more students to enroll at two-year colleges with the intent of saving money and transferring to UW-Madison.

Students who transfer from two-year Wisconsin schools are 70% more likely to be first-generation college students than students admitted as new freshmen, meaning neither parent holds a four-year degree. They are almost twice as likely to be low-income, Pell eligible, according to the university.

The program was to be formally launched Friday morning at UW-Waukesha, one of the state's 13 two-year UW colleges. 

Blank called it a win-win for students, UW-Madison and the state's workforce.

She said she doesn't want students who have the ability, but not the money, to be prevented from attending the state's flagship university. "Anyone who qualifies, we will fund," the chancellor said. 

Not all Badger Promise students will be traditional-age college students between 18 and 22, because many students at two-year colleges are older.

First-generation college students from Wisconsin who have completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and who meet the academic transfer requirements will automatically be covered by Badger Promise.  

UW-Madison has transfer agreements with the two-year schools involved with Badger Promise so students can follow an agreed-upon path to earn their credits — a minimum of 54 credits — that would transfer with them.

The hope is that students will declare their intent to attend UW-Madison shortly after they enroll at a two-year college so "we can reach out to them," Blank said. "This gives us a connection, and they get advising."

Transfer students generally graduate at the same rate as students who spend all four years at UW-Madison, Blank said. 

Blank said the Badger Promise no doubt will receive donations from alumni who want to "give back." 

A private fundraising campaign, which generates income from an endowment, already has helped the university add about 1,000 new scholarships, Blank said.