<p>“Would you agree to live and work in Wisconsin for 10 years after college if the state offered to pay your tuition costs for all four years?” In Wisconsin, this is the question that a state commission is posing in an effort to overhaul the entire University of Wisconsin System to reverse an exodus of college graduates and potentially transform the state’s economy:</p>
<p>"“We need to put some bold ideas out there,” said Mark O’Connell, the commission member who proposed what some are calling the “big bang” idea because of its revolutionary approach.</p>
<p>“I have yet to find a group that does not see the benefit,” said O’Connell, who is executive director of the Wisconsin Counties Association.</p>
<p>As the theory goes, a captive work force of college graduates would attract new industry to Wisconsin, along with higher-paying jobs. Those workers, in turn, would pay more income taxes and sales taxes, providing the state with the millions of dollars needed to offer free tuition.</p>
<p>The state currently collects more than $800 million a year in tuition and fees from 160,000 students on UW campuses statewide.</p>
<p>O’Connell said he envisions the state requiring a 10-year commitment from anyone who earns a bachelor’s degree here, or a five-year commitment in exchange for an associate’s degree from a two-year college or tech school.</p>
<p>If a graduate decided to leave Wisconsin early, that person would be free to go - with a bill in the mail to reimburse the state for the free tuition…</p>
<p>Proponents of the concept say it’s modeled on a program in Ireland that cost more than $3 billion a year, but has been credited with helping Ireland become one of the fastest-growing economic forces in Europe.</p>
<p>Rep. Sue Jeskewitz (R-Menomonee Falls), another commission member, described the free tuition program as “scary” because the payback in terms of economic development would not be guaranteed.</p>
<p>Jeskewitz said she has not decided whether to back the idea.</p>
<p>“It is a great concept,” she said. “I don’t know if the citizens of Wisconsin are ready for it.”</p>
<p>The state already pays $990 million annually into the UW System, which spends $4.1 billion a year to operate 13 four-year universities and 13 two-year campuses.</p>
<p>O’Connell and Torinus said the state could fund the program by borrowing on the municipal bond market, then pay off the bonds with the increased tax revenue expected from residents in higher-paying jobs.</p>
<p>Torinus likened the arrangement to tax-increment financing districts, which allow local governments to borrow to build new infrastructure then repay the debt by harnessing the increased property tax growth from the resulting real estate developments.</p>
<p>“Why the hell can’t we do that with education?” he said.</p>
<p>For years, Wisconsin has struggled with a “brain drain” resulting in the loss of college graduates who are drawn not only to Sun Belt communities, but other markets perceived as having better qualify of life, such as Minneapolis, Boston and Seattle.</p>
<p>Fearing that industry and growth are following the new graduates and bypassing Wisconsin, government and business leaders in recent years have focused on various ideas for educational reform.</p>
<p>Doyle’s new program, known as the Wisconsin Covenant, would cost $7 million to $10 million a year to guarantee college admission to any high school graduate with good grades.</p>
<p>O’Connell said taking that concept one step further - making college free - could jump-start the economy so much that the state could afford to both pay off the tuition bonds and make quality-of-life improvements in Wisconsin.</p>
<p>“We will attract smart young people,” he said. “They will stay here, and they will want their children to stay here.”"</p>