Expand course options so no child, regardless of where they live or their income will be denied the same opportunity other students have to access college level courses of their choosing.
On "universal access" to college courses, Gov. Scott Walker's promise during his 2014 campaign for a second term was:
"Expand course options so no child, regardless of where they live or their income, will be denied the same opportunity other students have to access college-level courses of their choosing."
Walker's 2015-'17 state budget included a proposal for the Universal Access to College Courses program. But it was not part of the final budget adopted by the Legislature.
Gubernatorial spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg cited to us a number of Walker higher education initiatives, including freezing tuition at University of Wisconsin System campuses and increasing grants for technical college students.
But a universal access plan has not been put into place. And the Legislature is not scheduled to return to session before Walker's second term ends in January 2019.
We rate this a Promise Broken.
In July 2014, while campaigning for re-election, Gov. Scott Walker released a plan called "Continuing Wisconsin's Comeback."
It contained several promises relating to higher education, including this one:
"Expand course options so no child, regardless of where they live or their income will be denied the same opportunity other students have to access college-level courses of their choosing."
We asked Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick about the pledge in late December 2015. She said Walker's 2015-'17 state budget included a proposal to continue the Universal Access to College Courses program. But that it was not part of the final budget adopted by the Legislature.
As for the future, Patrick said Walker would announce a number of higher education initiatives in his State of the State speech, set for Jan. 19, 2016.
Until something more concrete surfaces, our rating for this promise is Stalled.