UW–Madison’s Taylor Odle spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) recently about a new bill proposed by state Republicans that would guarantee Wisconsin students ranked in the top 5 percent of their high school class admission to UW System schools.
Odle’s research focuses on the economics of education and education policy, with a specific focus on college access and success. He is an assistant professor with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies, and also regularly advises and partners with states and nonprofit organizations seeking to develop, scale, and study college access programs.
WPR interviewed Odle along with Fond du Lac representative Jerry O’Conner, who proposed the plan.
According to O’Conner, the hope is that more Wisconsin students will stay in-state during and after college, rather than leaving to continue their education or enter the workforce. He says that there will still be room for UW System admission for students not in the top 5 percent at their high school, and anticipates hearings for the plan to take place in August, with its introduction in September.
Odle is skeptical of the plan, stating that despite marketing claims, “the reality is that institutions like Milwaukee and Green Bay and all the others already accept a majority of their applicants, and so this really is a UW–Madison bill.”
Odle continues: “I don’t necessarily see right now that there is a lack of access to UW–Madison.” He refers to the high numbers of students at UW coming from within the state already (60 percent), as well as the plethora of international students coming to UW–Madison from around the world.
Odle also challenges the need for students to “check a box,” such as a high GPA or certain SAT score, in order to attend college.
“As we look across the state of Wisconsin,” Odle says, “students who meet all these boxes look very similar, and so having everyone that checks each of these individual boxes doesn’t necessarily always make for a very interesting or diverse incoming class.”
Instead, Odle states, Wisconsin should focus on investing in our other institutions to keep Wisconsin students in-state. California, he cites, has six of their universities in the top ten. We should “use state money to build up our other UW system schools,” Odle says.
In another state comparison, Odle looks to Texas, who implemented a “top 10 percent” plan over 20 years ago. However, according to Odle and his colleagues, the benefits of this plan “were likely overstated.” Odle says not much has changed in Texas in the years since their bill was passed.
“We’ll have to see how this plays out,” Odle concludes.
Listen to the full WPR segment, or read more about the bill.