Student aid bound up

WHEG grants caught in stalled state budget

By: Nicole Strittmater

Posted: 9/13/07

Non-traditional junior Jeff Ruh received his state-based financial aid, but he's worried about the close to 5,000 students in Wisconsin who didn't.

"We're owed financial aid. We deserve that financial aid, and now (legislators) want to wrangle us?" Ruh said.

The UW System budget, which was supposed to be passed by July 1, is hung up as the Republican-controlled Assembly and Democratic-controlled Senate negotiate over the state budget.

Now, as the tuition deadline approaches, hundreds of students at UW-Eau Claire who applied for financial aid after June 27 didn't receive their need-based Wisconsin Higher Education Grants, said Elizabeth Schinke, Eau Claire's delegation leader for United Council, a student lobbying group.

"That's preventing them from getting their money, and really being able to focus on school as opposed to the financial aspects of it," Schinke said.

In an effort to urge legislators to settle, members of United Council lobbied in the Campus Mall Tuesday. They asked students to sign postcards written to state Rep. Kitty Rhodes, R-Hudson, and state Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee.

The postcards asked for a fully-funded UW System, including a tuition freeze for this school year and a tuition cap of 4 percent in future years.

Decker and Rhodes could not be reached for comment by press time.

Rebecca Johansson, finance and development director for United Council, said Eau Claire is the first university writing to legislators about the budget.

"I think that's going to put a really important and strong message to them that university students care about getting their financial aid," Johansson said.

Cedric Lawson, legislative affairs director for United Council, said 4,708 students in Wisconsin - 217 at UW-Eau Claire - were left on a waiting list as of Sept. 4 because of the stalled budget.

Senior and student senator Samantha Lee showed her support Tuesday. She said she has friends who received financial aid and knows how difficult it would be if they didn't.

"They probably couldn't afford school," Lee said. "That's something that Wisconsin should make their first priority and not make students go to this point where they have to collect signatures."

State Sen. Pat Kreitlow, D-Chippewa Falls, said he understands students are upset.

"They're right to be," he said. "This is a very concerning process for any university student, especially given the kind of cuts that they would potentially face if the Assembly version of the budget were to become law."

The Assembly and Senate budgets are very different, so negotiations have been taking a long time, he said.

Kreitlow said he urges students to speak out.

"I hope that students who are concerned about it will contact the representative members of the conference committee and urge them to negotiate in good faith."

And by the end of the day Tuesday, Johannson said 270 UW-Eau Claire students did.

In a few days, Lawson will hand-deliver the postcards to the Capitol.

"It was a great day," Johannson said. "I'm really psyched."