Financial Aid Promising For Rural Kids

Bucky’s Tuition Promise covers tuition and fees for four years for a student whose family’s adjusted gross income is below $60,000. Associate director in the Office of Student Financial Aid at UW-Madison Greg Offerman says rural students are taking advantage of the program.

The financial aid office travels to rural schools statewide to get the message out about the programs that aim to take the financial burden off of students. It’s a shame if nobody knows about them, Offerman says.

While UW-Madison also took a hit during the pandemic, scholarships and financial aid dollars have not swayed. Offerman thanks private donors for keeping those programs afloat. Bucky’s Tuition Promise and other programs are funded by private dollars.

Prospective and current students can find scholarships at the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub. Students can search for a specific program, such as dairy science, or a certain college, such as the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and either apply for those scholarships or start to work toward making themselves a strong candidates for the scholarships.

Admissions applications for UW-Madison are open. The FASFA opens Oct. 1. And in the meantime, the Office of Student Financial Aid will be behind their windshields doing outreach and helping students navigate the financial aid process wherever they want to go to school.

If groups are interested in having the financial aid office host a financial aid night or FASFA workshop, they can reach out to the Office of Student Financial Aid at UW-Madison.