Wisconsin is home to the nation’s oldest technical college system, which was established in 1911 to enable residents to obtain training for technical and skilled positions and to encourage economic development. Since then, many states have established technical and community colleges of their own. The structure of these institutions varies widely by state, particularly in how they are funded and governed. This is now an issue in Wisconsin.
Post-secondary education for those not heading straight to a four-year campus has often made the news in recent months.
Nationally, the president has floated the idea of two years of free community or junior college education. The notion is not without support, but how it will be funded remains a subject of much debate.
Closer to home, the state legislature used over $400 million in state surplus funds to “buy down” this year’s technical college property tax. The amount represented about two-thirds of what “tech” colleges levy annually for operations and has sparked renewed discussion of how these postsecondary institutions should be funded and governed.
THE WISCONSIN SYSTEM
In 1911, Wisconsin became the first state to establish a system of state aid and support for industrial education.
The technical college system originally had a twofold mission: to enable residents to obtain the training requisite for technical or skilled jobs, and to encourage economic development by providing customized training and assistance to local businesses and industries.
Over time, however, some technical colleges have expanded their missions, providing college preparatory classes for students looking to transfer to four-year institutions.
The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) now consists of 16 districts that collectively span the entire state (see Figure 1 on page 2). All in all, the system has 48 campuses that serve over 326,000 students (or about 72,000 on a fulltime equivalent basis).