Over the last decade, UW-Platteville students have seen tuition costs double to almost $2,600. To cover costs, students receive financial help from two main sources: the Financial Aid Office and the UW-P Foundation.

“Last year, students who qualified for financial aid had $34 million available to them,” Liz Tucker, director of the Financial Aid Office, said.

About 70 percent of UW-P students receive some form of financial aid, most through the Financial Aid Office.

The largest program the Financial Aid Office has is the Federal Pell Grant Program.
“The amount available each year depends on the number of eligible recipients, as determined by Congress,” Tucker said. The maximum value for a Federal Pell Grant is $4,731 and the minimum is $841.

Other federal programs include Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, Perkins loans and federal work-study, Tucker said. Each year, the Financial Aid Office must apply for funding for the programs and they receive an allocation.
In the last few years, additional funding for each of the three programs hasn’t been coming from the federal government. However, despite economic troubles, federal funding will be available for next year.

Funding from the state is unknown until after the 2009-11 budget is passed.
“It’s going to take a Legislature that is committed to funding universities,” Phil Garthwaite, 49th Assembly district representative, said. Garthwaite hopes all budgeted state education funding is received.

Tucker said it has been harder to meet student needs recently.

“You do see some struggle where we have new students applying,” Tucker said.

There have also been problems with student loans as the economy has suffered.

“We think that it’ll be harder for students to get those private loans,” Tucker said. She believes more students will reapply for aid because of adjusted income.

UW-P and the Foundation are two separate entities. However, the Foundation supports the university for projects that aren’t met with state funding.

To keep up with needs, the Foundation started the “M” S.T.E.P. Program and the Community Scholarship Program.

The “M” S.T.E.P. Program gives five students $1,000 scholarships and partners them with a company for training and mentoring. The goal is to place students in jobs after graduation.

Cooley said there are about 120 companies interested in the program. Alliant Energy and Hartung Brothers Inc. have already committed and Cooley hopes to have 15 companies on board by the end of the year.

“As well as we’ve done, we’ve only scratched the surface,” Cooley said.
The Community Scholarship Program started three years ago and uses money from alumni to create scholarships at area high schools for UW-P students, Cooley said. Donations are used for scholarships and an endowment for future scholarships.

“Our goal, long-term, is scholarships for all UW-P students,” Cooley said.
Cooley is confident that the Foundation will keep up with demands for scholarships and funding for building projects because of a large, generous and active alumni base.

The Foundation will eventually receive $5.5 million in estate gifts and has about $72 million in stocks, land and investments, Cooley said.

“We’re working to keep that number going up,” Cooley said.

Tucker said that financial aid will be able to keep up with student enrollment if the government continues to fund programs and increase grants.

“The people in power usually do the right thing for higher education,” Tucker said.