February 2nd, President Bush sent his four year 2005 budget proposal to Congress; requesting $2.4 trillion in federal spending for the upcoming fiscal year.

Among the laundry list of programs and stipulations of the proposal was the Bush administration’s “Jobs for the 21st Century” initiative with which the president seeks to meet the demand for trained workers in a technical economy by making access to higher education and technical skills training more affordable; specifically for those already in the workforce seeking to advance. Given the post-manufacturing state of our economy and the need for trained workers in the service and technical fields, the Jobs in the 21st Century initiative appears aptly named.

The initiative also proposes increasing the federal Pell Grant program to $12.863 billion; up from the FY2004 appropriation of $12.007 billion.

We must give credit where credit is due for the administration’s recent commitment to funding higher education while under pressure from both sides of the aisle to hold federal spending and a projected federal deficit of $521 billion. Subsidizing individual access to higher education is an effective means of enabling social mobility and stabilizing an economy in metamorphosis.

According to the National Association of Student Financial Administrators, the proposal is receiving “mixed reviews” from experts in the field. As the group cites, requests for Pell Grant assistance is outpacing the planned increases in grant availability. The group applauds the increase, but insists demand must be met.

In part, we heartily agree ? placing access to higher education at the top of funding priorities is a sound investment in this nation’s economic future. However, this consistent increase in the necessity of federal involvement in education funding belies a deeper problem from which Wisconsin and many other states are currently reeling ? an abandonment of individual state higher education systems by state governments attempting to patch gaping holes in state budgets. With Wisconsin’s totaling around $1 billion nearly a year ago, UW students are now feeling the pain in sliced class offerings and tight advisement schedules.

The recent surge in federal Pell Grant applicants directly reflects recent hikes in tuition in states across the country to make up for the funding gaps that drove up tuition at state schools nationwide.

While we did not categorically oppose the tuition hikes here at UW-Madison - as we believe the price of a quality education is one worth rising to meet and UW remains a relative bargain - unless state policy makers make funding for higher education a local priority to allow state’s more nuanced, effective control and the power to demand higher quality. Wisconsin’s taxpayers and its economy deserve nothing less.