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Students in Wisconsin who receive free or reduced lunch can apply for free driver’s education classes. 

“Doing what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state and ensuring the next generation of drivers can make good and safe decisions behind the wheel is critically important to building safer roads and communities for everyone,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement this week. 

The Driver Education Grant Program has provided $6 million annually to more than 10,000 students since it began in September 2024. 

The first $1.5 million in grants this year will support the first wave of applicants with the same amount released every three months. 

Common Ground pushes for access

Common Ground, a nonpartisan coalition that addresses community issues, has advocated for more access to driver’s education for low-income high school students. 

“This grant program will reduce racial and economic disparities around access to driver education and the ability to obtain a driver’s license,” the organization said in an Aug. 25 news release.

Common Grounds launched a listening campaign in 2021. Its leaders spoke with about 1,000 people, and reckless driving was the primary concern. 

According to data from the Milwaukee County Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard, individuals younger than 20 years of age had the highest injury rate by age group in Milwaukee County. 

What you need to know

The program will pay to send approximately 11,500 low-income students per year to driver’s education classes on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Interested students and/or their families ages 14 to 19 can go to the WisDot website and fill out an application. WisDOT also created a map to help students and families find a program near them. 

Funds are paid directly to the driving school. The funding covers 30 hours of classroom time, six hours of observation time and six hours of driving. 

After applying, eligible students will receive a confirmation email with confirmation “coupon” numbers for the course. 

They can share the coupon number with any licensed driving school in the state to start the course. 

Driving schools will enter the coupon number in their student records upon course enrollment. Payment for the course will be sent electronically to the schools from Wisconsin DMV.

For more information

Check out the WisDot website for details.

Free driver’s ed is available for eligible Wisconsin youths. Here’s how it works. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.