Pioneer Press: End to WI's reciprocity subsidy makes sense
The Pioneer Press explains why it agrees with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to end the $3,000-per-student annual subsidy that allows Wisconsin students to study at more expensive Minnesota colleges under the states' reciprocity agreement:
The Minnesota Daily, the university's student newspaper, described Walker's plan as seeking "to end the state's 43-year-old tuition reciprocity agreement.'' We don't see it that way. This new policy, if adopted by the Wisconsin Legislature, protects the central tenet of reciprocity, which is that collegians crossing the Min-Wis border will still be paying tens of thousands of dollars less for their education than students coming from New York, California or a state without such an agreement.
From Walker's point of view, Wisconsin would no longer be spending money to send its students across the border. He's got a point. We can't imagine such a subsidy lasting long in Minnesota, particularly when state officials need to scrutinize every expenditure.
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