WASHINGTON — Education experts and advocates warned Wednesday that the recent federal student loan system overhaul stemming from the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut law will drive borrowers to private lenders and could derail their higher education plans. 

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and Workforce, convened a panel to blast the sweeping loan changes, as well as separate, ongoing efforts from President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle the Education Department and its impact on the federal student aid system. 

“Student loan debt now exceeds $1.7 trillion. Borrowers need clear guidance and certainty,” Scott said. “Instead, they’re forced to deal with uncertainty and chaos created by an administration that has systematically weakened the federal student aid system.”   

Scott criticized Education’s plans to transfer core student aid functions to the Treasury Department. Under an interagency agreement, or IAA, announced in March, Treasury will take over Education’s responsibility for collecting on defaulted federal student loan debt in what marks the first step in a multi-phase process toward Treasury taking on the entire federal student loan portfolio. 

The Virginia Democrat said Treasury “has no expertise serving students or institutions of higher education or monitoring servicers for accuracy.” 

Meanwhile, the Education Department finalized regulations — most of which took effect July 1 — that implement sweeping student loan system changes outlined in the GOP’s “big, beautiful” law.

Scott said that the sweeping changes to the federal student loan system originating from that law are “compounding the issues that have risen from the dismantling of the Education Department.” 

Borrowing limits

Among the major changes are new loan limits for graduate and professional students, a restructured repayment system that gives new borrowers only two plans to choose from and the elimination of a key loan program for graduate and professional students that allowed for unlimited borrowing.

Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president at the nonprofit policy and advocacy group EdTrust, said the mega tax and spending cut law “restricts access to federal graduate lending, pushing many borrowers, especially those from low-income and middle-income backgrounds, many of whom are students of color, into the hands of private banks.” 

Del Pilar, who was deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said that would present a series of challenges for borrowers. 

“That means higher interest rates, fewer consumer protections, stricter credit requirements, and flat-out denials for some, forcing those students to halt their educational journey,” he said.

Access to graduate education 

Clare McCann, managing director of policy and operations at the Postsecondary Education and Economics Research Center, said her organization was “very concerned that for many borrowers who want to continue to pursue a graduate education, that they will find themselves locked out of the private market or unable to access affordable loans without a qualified cosigner.” 

McCann, whose organization is housed at American University, added that the center’s research suggested almost 40% of student borrowers subject to the new caps have either poor or no credit scores, making them unlikely to be able to borrow money in the private market without a cosigner.

McCann noted that allowing largely unlimited graduate lending is “unwise” and “puts both students and taxpayers at risk,” while calling on Congress to “allow students to borrow enough to make high-return investments in themselves, so long as their loans remain affordable and repayable based on the salaries students should expect.” 

Ellen Keast, a spokesperson for the department, defended the student loan system overhaul, in a statement shared with States Newsroom on Wednesday. 

“Blank checks to universities resulted in tuition skyrocketing for American students and families. Mass student loan forgiveness failed in nearly every courtroom it entered. The student loan portfolio is at a fiscal cliff because the last Administration perpetrated the lie that students do not need to repay their loans,” Keast said. “The Trump Administration is righting these wrongs – all while implementing historic reforms to federal student aid that will drive down the cost of college and simplify student loan repayment.”

Wisconsin student loan borrowers are struggling to repay after pandemic relief
ended, with those who attended for-profit colleges twice as likely to be delinquent.

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• More than 108,000 Wisconsinites are in default on student loans, according to federal data analyzed by the Associated Press and shared with Wisconsin Watch. 
• The number of borrowers in default surged nationwide since 2024, when pandemic relief measures ended. 
• Advocates expect it to worsen, with borrowers facing higher monthly payments and longer repayment terms after the Trump administration ended existing relief options.
• Wisconsin student loan borrowers who attend for-profit colleges are twice as likely to be 90 days behind on payments compared to peers at public and nonprofit private colleges, AP data shows.

The number of Wisconsinites many months behind on student loan bills has risen by nearly 50% since last fall. 

That’s according to federal data analyzed by the Associated Press, which found that more than 108,000 people in Wisconsin haven’t made payments on their loans in more than 360 days.

Across the country, the number of students in student loan default has surged by millions since a four-year pandemic reprieve ended in 2024, and advocates say it’s poised to worsen as President Donald Trump’s administration has ended existing relief options. 

Borrowers are placed in default after missing payments for nine months. The status triggers a raft of devastating consequences. The entire balance becomes due at once, and the loan is sent to collections, crashing the borrower’s credit score. That can make it harder to borrow, rent or even find work.  

Around 34,000 Wisconsinites entered student loan default since September 2025, the AP found. Of the roughly 709,100 people in Wisconsin who hold student loans, one in seven is currently in default.

Here’s how we got here: As a pandemic relief measure, the federal government allowed borrowers to suspend student loan payments until 2023, and President Joe Biden’s administration then provided a one-year grace period. That ended in fall 2024, allowing loans to enter into default after nine months of missed payments. 

A surge in defaults followed, and today around 9.5 million borrowers nationwide — over 1 in 5 — are in default, including those whose loans were well past due before the pandemic, according to the AP analysis. The previous record for borrowers in default had been 8 million in December 2019.

Meanwhile, many borrowers are facing much higher monthly payments since the Trump administration ended the SAVE repayment plan, which offered more flexibility and lower payments than any other. In its absence, borrowers will see longer repayment terms and “unpredictable payment spikes,” wrote Michele Zampini, associate vice president of federal policy and advocacy at the Institute for College Access and Success, in a February blog post. 

“I am seeing despair and outrage and despondency and just a very wide mix of pretty extreme emotions, the likes of which I have not seen before,” Alan Collinge, the founder of grassroots advocacy group Student Loan Justice, told the AP. 

The federal government can garnish wages and Social Security payments from borrowers in default, but the Trump administration in January walked back plans to begin collections on their loans. A Moody’s Analytics report this spring said garnishments are likely to begin within the next year, warning of “an additional headwind in an increasingly fragile economy.” 

Governments and colleges may also impose additional penalties on borrowers in default, including restricting access to further financial aid, withholding transcripts and suspending professional licenses and driver’s licenses. 

“These measures are not only punitive, they’re also self-defeating: by undermining someone’s ability to cover basic expenses, return to school to finish a degree, keep their job, or even drive a car, the default system makes it harder for someone who is already struggling to secure their financial footing,” Zampini wrote in 2025. 

For-profit colleges, lower repayment rates

Students who attend Wisconsin’s for-profit colleges are far less likely to satisfy their loan payments than their peers at the state’s public and nonprofit private colleges, the AP data shows. 

AP reporters analyzed data from the Office of Federal Student Aid on students whose loan payments first came due between January 2020 and May 2025, typically because they either graduated or left school. The analysis does not include students at schools with fewer than 100 borrowers. 

The data shows students who have attended for-profit schools in Wisconsin are twice as likely as their peers to be at least 90 days behind on payments. At Wisconsin’s public and private colleges, one in seven of these borrowers had fallen behind on payments by May of this year. At for-profit schools, the rate was more than one in four. 

Nonpayment rates were highest for students who attended for-profit cosmetology schools.

Nearly half of the 300 borrowers in the sample who attended Tricoci University of Beauty Culture’s Janesville campus were at least 90 days late. 

The Paul Mitchell beauty schools in Madison — which has since closed — and Milwaukee have 40% nonpayment rates. The nonpayment rate for the Salon Professional Academy in Kenosha is 36%, and the rate at State College of Beauty Culture is 35%.

Elinor Mittlestat, owner of State College of Beauty Culture, found the nonpayment rate surprising. She noted that many people graduate from the school without any loans. 

“It has been a strained economy, and I do understand that newly graduated students sometimes struggle to make student loan payments,” she said. 

One reason for the low repayment rate could be that cosmetology graduates tend to have relatively low incomes. On average, graduates of the Paul Mitchell school in Milwaukee, the Salon Professional Academy in Kenosha and State College of Beauty Culture make $7,000 to $12,500 less than the median Wisconsin high school graduate, according to an analysis of earnings data from Open Campus and The HEA Group.

Meanwhile, student borrowers who don’t finish school have to make loan payments too, even though they don’t have a credential to help them get a better job. Those who don’t graduate are more than twice as likely to end up in default, according to research by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“The most important thing that you can do to be able to repay any loans you take out is to finish your program,” Carole Trone, executive director of the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt, told Wisconsin Watch in January. People leave school for all sorts of reasons, including family commitments and job changes. “A lot of that can be really unavoidable … but those are the borrowers that often have the most difficulty in repaying their loans.”

Around 25,000 students who recently attended Wisconsin public colleges are at least 90 days behind on their payments too, though they represent a far smaller share (13%) of those borrowers.

Students who attended Gateway Technical College have the highest nonpayment rate of the state’s public schools, with three in 10 recent students not making payments. 

Gateway communications manager Lee Colony said the college needs to use a “personal touch” to see what’s driving people to not pay their loans.

“We will reach out to those students and see if there is any help we can provide to them for repayment options,” Colony said. “Some of that outreach will also include ways to educate them on finances and how to properly borrow money to pay for college.”

By comparison, the University of Wisconsin campuses in Oshkosh, Stevens Point, Superior and Whitewater all have nonpayment rates of 10%, while UW-Madison’s rate is just 3%. At all of those schools, most students receive some form of financial aid besides loans.

Nationwide, AP’s analysis found 133 schools where more than half of recent students are at least 90 days behind on payments. Nearly all of them are for-profit schools, and more than half of them are barber or beauty schools.

This story was reported in collaboration with The Associated Press through its Localize It initiative, which provides datasets, reporting and story ideas for local newsrooms.

Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagram and Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.

Natalie Yahr reports on pathways to success statewide for Wisconsin Watch, working in partnership with Open Campus. Email her at nyahr@wisconsinwatch.org. 

Student loan defaults surge in Wisconsin, US after federal reprieve ends 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.

A judge is set to sign off on Northland College's plan for doling out what's left of its restricted endowment. The college in northern Wisconsin borrowed $22 million from its endowment to fund operations before it closed last year, and some donors accuse them of violating the law.

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This month, thousands of Wisconsin’s estimated 700,000 federal student loan borrowers are seeing significant changes to their repayment plans as part of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will likely have an effect on economic drivers like travel, dining, autos and home buying.

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• Congress authorized the new Workforce Pell grant program in 2025 and allocated About $1.5 billion in funding for it.
• The program will allow students to use the federal financial aid dollars for short-term career training. 
• But the funding comes with restrictions on what programs are eligible, and the federal government left it up to states to figure out which offerings meet the new guidelines. 
• Wisconsin officials say it could take years to fully implement the program.

A new kind of federal financial aid is set to become available this week, but it’s not yet clear when Wisconsin students can start using it. 

Authorized by Congress in 2025’s controversial budget bill, the new Workforce Pell grant program was widely hailed as a bipartisan victory, opening the door for students to use the largest federal undergraduate grant program for short-term career training.

The roughly $1.5 billion investment could cover the costs for low-income individuals to get training in fields like truck driving and plumbing, which proponents say will help people break into new careers or move up at work. 

But the funds also come with restrictions intended to ensure that students don’t spend their time — or the government’s money — earning credentials that don’t pay off. 

The federal government has left it up to states to decide which programs make the cut. In Wisconsin, officials say that process could take years, with aid initially available only to students in a handful of carefully scrutinized programs.

“Wisconsin is approaching the initial rollout thoughtfully, treating it as a pilot phase focused on a limited number of high-quality, high-demand workforce programs,” said Katy Pettersen, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Wisconsin Watch asked state officials how the rollout will work. Here’s what we learned.

What is Workforce Pell? 

Workforce Pell is a new program that allows low-income Americans to use Pell grants — the federal government’s largest financial aid program for undergraduates — to pay for workforce training courses as short as eight weeks.

The grants will be available to people who don’t have a graduate degree. Those who already have bachelor’s degrees are eligible to apply, even though they aren’t eligible for traditional Pell grants. The Department of Education estimates the new grants will support about 190,000 students each year. 

The grants will be less than the maximum award for the traditional Pell grant program, according to the national education and workforce nonprofit Jobs for the Future. The exact amounts will be based on the amount of instructional time required.

What programs will be eligible?

That hasn’t been decided yet. Wisconsin colleges will need to submit programs to state officials for consideration. The Department of Workforce Development hopes to open that application in July. 

Before then, Wisconsin officials must set the criteria that will determine which programs will be eligible. That includes deciding what it means for a career to be “in-demand” or “high-wage.” One federal guideline: To be eligible, programs must show 70% of their students complete training in a timely manner.

Programs must also be the right length. Workforce Pell dollars can only be used for training that runs for eight and 14 weeks and 150 to 599 clock hours. Some programs that would otherwise be eligible will likely be excluded for this reason.

Several programs, including ones that train truck drivers, dental auxiliary workers and emergency medical technicians, are “strong early candidates, given their alignment with workforce demand and expected performance outcomes,” Pettersen said. 

Gov. Tony Evers and the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment will determine which programs meet the criteria. They’ll submit their selections to the U.S. Department of Education.  

Another factor limiting which programs can qualify is a federal requirement that programs must have met the eligibility criteria for at least 12 months. That means that if a college creates or modifies a program to comply with the rules, it won’t qualify for the first year. 

“More options will come available over the next 12 to 24 months,” said DWD spokesperson Haley McCoy. “Wisconsin is moving deliberately to collaborate with stakeholders to optimize the opportunities the program offers.” 

When will people be able to use Workforce Pell grants in Wisconsin?

State officials have offered no official start date for when people will be able to utilize this financial aid. 

When the law passed last year, it said funds would be available “for the award year beginning on July 1, 2026, and each subsequent award year.” Jobs for the Future called that timeline “aggressive,” saying the Department of Education might need more time to implement the program.

Indeed, the department didn’t release the rules governing Workforce Pell until nearly a year later. That, McCoy said, has delayed the process.

“The final rule, which established eligibility and process requirements, was not published by the Department of Education until May 18, 2026, with Workforce Pell set to go into effect less than two months later,” McCoy said, adding that the department “continues to work diligently towards the July 2026 launch date.” 

Behind the scenes, college administrators are deciding which of their programs could qualify, said Scott Anderson, associate vice president of academic affairs and workforce development at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. 

Then, they’ll also have to spread the word to students. 

“At this point, our financial aid office hasn’t received many questions from students specifically about Workforce Pell,” Anderson said. “We expect awareness and interest will increase as more information becomes available and the program officially launches.”

In the meantime, Wisconsinites interested in these grants can complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is required for all types of Pell grants. The application is available at www.fafsa.gov.

What’s happening in other states?

Other states are in a similar boat, sprinting to decide which training programs fit the bill. 

As of June 26, just 12 states have published an approval process, according to a tracker from the independent research platform Opportunity Data.

In California, state officials say the aid won’t be available for students for weeks or even several months. Lawmakers there are also weighing legislation that would place heavier restrictions on the kinds of programs that qualify, CalMatters reported. 

Some Texas college officials have warned that the vetting process may mean students won’t access the funds until 2027. 

How can people get help paying for workforce training in the meantime?

People who enroll in short-term certification programs in Wisconsin have options for financial assistance, even if their program isn’t yet eligible for Workforce Pell. 

The state offers other forms of tuition assistance, grants and scholarships. For example, students who enrolled in EMT training can now get reimbursed for some of their tuition costs. 

To learn about other options, visit the Higher Educational Aids Board website.

Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagram and Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.

Natalie Yahr reports on pathways to success statewide for Wisconsin Watch, working in partnership with Open Campus. Email her at nyahr@wisconsinwatch.org.

Federal financial aid for career training is here. When will Wisconsinites benefit? 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.

Wisconsin native Shawn Eichorst has been appointed to serve as the university’s new athletic director, interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots announced Wednesday.

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A broken chilled water line has significantly reduced the University of Wisconsin-Madison's ability to cool certain buildings.

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Washington County is allowed to sell the former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County campus to a Christian school following a judge’s ruling Friday. 

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The army of small, white food delivery robots crisscrossing the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus for the past seven years have vanished. They're destined for city streets around the world as the company behind them transitions from mobile campus snack packs to grocery delivery drones.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a state college grant program for minority students is unconstitutional. UW-Madison’s Taylor Odle said he hopes that program can be repurposed to address Wisconsin’s college affordability problem.

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• Wisconsin officials launched a teacher apprenticeship program in 2024, offering students an alternative route to the profession. 
• But the program’s future is unclear. 
• Leaders are struggling to find students who are interested in joining the program and public school districts to sponsor them.

Matthew Jacobson found his calling in middle school history class.

As a sixth grader at St. John Vianney Catholic School in Brookfield, he voluntarily completed additional research projects and jumped at the chance to present to his classmates. He never saw the extra assignments as work — he was having fun. When Jacobson’s teacher told him he’d make a great educator himself, he set his sights on the profession. In high school, he participated in Elmbrook School District’s future teachers program and planned to enroll in university for his teaching degree. 

But life had other plans. Several weeks before his high school graduation, Jacobson was forced to move out on his own. He picked up a cooking job to “pay the bills and survive.” The gig didn’t leave extra money or time for college. 

“I didn’t really know how to get back into college and go meet my dream,” Jacobson said. 

Two years later, he heard about a novel apprenticeship program, where future teachers earn money working in schools as they obtain their education and certifications. 

“I was like, ‘That’s my way back in,’” he said. 

State officials launched the program in 2024 to ease the educator shortage by offering students an alternative route to the profession — one where they don’t have to put their careers on pause while racking up student debt. Jacobson is one of the first eight teacher apprentices. 

Today, Jacobson has returned to Elmbrook to serve as a classroom aide. In two years, he’ll have the proper training for the district to hire him as an elementary or middle school teacher.

But as participants reach the program’s halfway point, its future beyond this initial “pilot” phase is unclear — raising questions about whether apprenticeships will become a viable solution to Wisconsin’s struggle to find and keep educators. 

While the route has been life-changing for students like Jacobson, program leaders are having trouble enticing school districts to take on more apprentices. Enrollment has ground to a halt; the two technical colleges involved don’t have any new students signed up to begin in the fall. 

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development officials say whether the program continues or grows depends on if districts get on board and sponsor trainees to join up. But district leaders say a major hurdle is the cost — a key appeal of an apprenticeship is the employer paying them for the time they spend learning, but many public schools are already strapped for cash. Some want more funding tied to the program. 

“(It’s) stalling a little bit,” said Trent Sorensen, a Fox Valley Technical College dean. “We don’t have any (students) coming in for the fall. … There’s plenty of time, but it’s not taking off like it did in other states, and it’s simply because of the funding.”

A new way to train teachers

Wisconsin schools struggle to find enough teachers needed to lead classrooms — a problem largely fueled by poor retention and new workers moving to other states after graduating.

In 2024, Congress came through with some assistance: $570,000 in federal funds earmarked for establishing a teacher apprenticeship program in Wisconsin. 

Officials from DWD, the Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Technical College System, and two universities teamed up to debut the pilot in January 2024. They praised the “earn-while-you-learn” approach to establishing a pipeline of workers: Districts could guarantee they’d have future teachers, while also filling lower-skilled jobs in the meantime. 

Typically, aspiring teachers work a shorter classroom internship while studying for their bachelor’s degree and then complete a semester of student teaching after graduating. The apprenticeship is “taking that entire approach and flipping it on its head,” said Nick Abbott, senior program and policy analyst at the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards — creating a potentially more accessible path to the profession. 

“Traditional educator preparation programs can be expensive, as they often require unpaid student teaching, which might not be feasible for low-income students, nontraditional students, or individuals looking to change careers,” Gov. Tony Evers said when the program launched. “The new teacher apprenticeship pilot program will help address issues in turnover and retention, reduce barriers, and encourage young people to enter the field.”

Apprenticeships are becoming more common in Wisconsin in fields ranging from plumbing to nursing. Participation has hit record highs for the last four years. These gigs are far more common for hands-on jobs in the skilled trades than fields like education and health care, but that’s changing with initiatives like the teacher apprenticeship program.

Here’s how it works: A school district hires an apprentice, who enrolls at Fox Valley Technical College or Waukesha County Technical College for two years to complete a Foundations of Teacher Education associate’s degree. When finished, the student transfers to Lakeland University or the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County to finish a bachelor’s degree.

Throughout those roughly four years of schooling, the apprentice works inside the classroom as an assistant for 32 hours each week and spends eight hours a week learning at college. The school district the person works for pays an hourly wage for those 40 total hours. When apprentices finish the training, they’re qualified to work as a classroom teacher.

“Nothing prepares you for doing this job, other than doing the job,” Jacobson said. “Being at a school working with kids is easily 10 times more important than any of the classes I’ve taken, and I get way better experience and much more value out of just doing it and learning through failure.” 

As a way of incentivizing the program during its infancy, the eight students get half of their tuition costs reimbursed with federal grant funds. 

Four districts participate in the pilot: Wauwatosa, Greendale, Elmbrook and Appleton. The districts are not required to pay for the remainder of the apprentice’s tuition — Elmbrook, a relatively wealthy district, was the only one that did. 

State leaders also hope the apprenticeships might help with teacher retention. Teachers will start with four years of classroom management experience already under their belt, far more than usual. Plus, other teachers mentor them on the job. That essentially eliminates the difficult experience of being a first-year teacher, said Appleton Area School District Chief Human Resources Officer Julie King. 

“Managing a classroom and the curriculum and all the demands of the job is very overwhelming after having maybe 18 weeks of student teaching experience,” King said. “To learn alongside a professional that has been in the career, knows all the ins and outs, has skill sets and strategies to work with students – to have that benefit of working alongside somebody like that for four years, you’re much, much better prepared.”

Given these promises, teacher apprenticeships have recently exploded nationwide — 45 states have brought programs online in the last few years. They vary widely in their funding approaches and in the costs to districts and students. States have often looked to Tennessee, the country’s first program, as a standout model. The state’s program, launched in 2020, now helps fund 600 new teacher trainees annually at no cost to the apprentices.

Enticing schools a challenge

In his Foundations of Reading class last fall, Jacobson learned about phonological and phonemic awareness, or the ability to recognize distinct parts of a word — a key skill for learning how to read. Using what he learned, he started running his own reading support group for students needing extra help. 

“The second you learn something, I don’t have to wait two years before I actually apply that knowledge to my job,” Jacobson said. “No, I’m applying it that same day or the next day, which then makes it stick a lot more.”

The program gets high marks from trainees and schools. So why aren’t more signing up?

Money. Both school districts and apprentices are struggling to afford it. 

The four districts that already have apprentices are waiting until their current students graduate to decide whether to add more, Abbott said. 

“I want to stress that the apprenticeship model itself remains available to all school employers in the state who wish to adopt it,” Abbott said. “It comes down to finding partners.”

But getting more of Wisconsin’s 400-plus districts to bite has been difficult. 

Sorensen, the Fox Valley Tech dean, said the college isn’t seeing interest from districts because many are contending with too-tight budgets. School leaders have long argued the state’s funding system hasn’t kept up with rising costs, which, as Wisconsin Watch recently reported, has resulted in a recent wave of school closures, layoffs and budget cuts. 

That’s made it hard for districts to pay for the hours when trainees are in college, and not working in the classroom. 

“It’s challenging for school districts to be able to build in that release time. We did hear that, and that’s really understandable,” said Dena Constantineau, Waukesha County Tech’s associate dean of education and human services. “I mean, they really rely on their people, and so they need them in the classroom.”

Even with the discount from the federal grant, tuition can be costly. For example, the average annual tuition costs at least $5,900 for the technical college portion and about $6,000 for UW-Whitewater at Rock County. That means the leftover cost to apprentices could still be upwards of $12,000. 

Plus, the federal funds that helped launch the pilot run out next March, so there could be even less tuition assistance for future apprentices.  

The Appleton Area School District would love to put more students into the program, “if there was funding” to entice participants, King said. The district couldn’t afford to give students more tuition assistance, which hampered participation. 

“The unknown for us moving forward is there is no state funding. If there’s other opportunities for that tuition relief for the individual, that’s really what entices people to engage in that program,” King said.

“The question on the future really is, ‘Where is the funding and the structures going to be in the future to make sure that it’s a viable option moving forward?’” King said. “‘That it reduces the financial barrier? That it’s accessible?’” 

Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagram and Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.

An apprenticeship aiming to ease Wisconsin’s teacher shortage is ‘stalling.’ Will it catch on? 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.