Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, noted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Governor Scott Walker and Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett have said little about higher education during the current recall campaign. Still writes that funding for UW System has remained flat for more than ten years and has declined in real terms.
Wisconsin also trails the national average of adults with at least a four-year degree, Still says, making it more difficult for Wisconsin to be more competitive in an increasingly global economy. The number of adults in the state with a two-year degree is better than the national average, but costs for that two-year education are above average.
Regardless of the conversation about higher education right now, Still writes that higher education is one of the state’s top funding categories and that “Wisconsin’s economy depends on educating and retaining the right workforce. That’s an issue that will command more attention in the near future.”