Author: Sam Buisman

The Governor's Task Force on Student Debt publishes its final report on addressing Wisconsin's student debt crisis. 

On Tuesday evening, the Task Force released their 120-page final report analyzing the state of student debt in Wisconsin and presenting eight policy recommendations to Governor Tony Evers based on educating, protecting and relieving borrowers.

While the Governor could likely implement some of their recommendations unilaterally, like directing state departments to participate in a larger financial literacy campaign, their more impactful recommendations will need to be passed as laws, including creating a borrower bill of rights and expanding loan forgiveness programs. 

Task Force Chair Kathy Blumenfeld acknowledged such upcoming difficulties in implementing these policies but also spoke to their merits in a press release.

“The final eight recommendations provide a multi-faceted and multi-generational approach to solving Wisconsin's student debt problem,” said Blumenfeld. “Now, we must collectively move forward on the hard work ahead, as outlined in this report.” 

Aside from the three aforementioned policies, the Task Force's other recommendations include tightening regulations on proprietary schools, increasing funding for Wisconsin's need-based grant programs, expanding student loan counseling, offering refinancing options for student loans and creating a student debt relief tax credit. 

This report reflects three months of council meetings which featured presentations from academic experts and government officials, along with borrower testimonials. 

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Wisconsinites currently hold more than $24 billion in outstanding student loans, with that number rising to $1.7 trillion nation-wide.