16 Oct Bucky’s Tuition Promise boosts retention rate for lower-income students, long-term study finds
“Overall, it’s really promising to see that new populations of students who were brought to campus through Bucky’s Tuition Promise are succeeding at such high rates,” says research analyst Amberly Dziesinski. Photo: Bryce Richter / UW–Madison
A flagship financial aid program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison that provides generous support to in-state students from low- to moderate-income families increases student retention by several percentage points, according to new research.
The study, published this month in the Peabody Journal of Education, is the first to assess the long-term outcomes of Bucky’s Tuition Promise, which began in 2018.
“This finding is the latest evidence that Bucky’s Tuition Promise is having a positive effect on student success and on the university as a whole,” says Scott Owczarek, interim vice provost for enrollment management at UW–Madison. “Bucky’s Tuition Promise was designed to make an education at the state’s flagship public university more affordable and accessible for Wisconsin students. It is doing that while also helping to ensure that our state’s top students stay in Wisconsin and contribute their talents and their skills to our campus and our communities.”
Bucky’s Tuition Promise, named for UW–Madison’s beloved mascot, guarantees four years of tuition and segregated fees for any incoming freshman from Wisconsin whose family’s annual household adjusted gross income is $65,000 or less. (The figure was $56,000 the first year, roughly the state’s median household income at the time.) Transfer students from Wisconsin can qualify for up to two years of funding.
Prior research has shown that being eligible for Bucky’s Tuition Promise increases the probability that a low- to moderate-income student from Wisconsin will accept an enrollment offer from UW–Madison. The new study looks at what happens to the students once they arrive on campus.