Wisconsin's Great Cost Shift: How Higher Education Cuts Undermine the State's Future Middle Class

In Wisconsin, state policy decisions have played a significant role in this rise by shifting costs onto students and families though declining state support. This report shows that Wisconsin’s investment in higher education has decreased considerably over the past two decades, and its financial aid programs, though still some of the country’s most expansive, fail to reach many students with financial need. As a result, students and their families now pay—or borrow— much more than they can afford to get a higher education, a trend which will have grave consequences for Wisconsin’s future economy.