Murphy's Law

The typical news story on college tuition in Wisconsin always tells the same story. Yes, tuition is rising, but it’s cheaper here than in other Midwestern states. So hey, maybe we’re not doing bad.

Even last week’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story, telling us that Wisconsin public tuition rates doubled over the last decade, still gave us the nice assurance that we’re doing better here than in other Midwestern states. Wisconsin’s average annual tuition and fees for a four-year college is now $6,413, compared to $9,008 in Illinois, $8,508 in Michigan and $7,809 in Minnesota.

You had to check the table on the jump page to see that Wisconsin actually exceeds the national average for annual tuition and fees by 4 percent, charging $228 more per year than the national average of $6,185. Wisconsin, a state with a long history of a strong university system that provided a chance for all people to succeed, now provides less access than the average state in America. Amazing.

And what does it mean to be worse than the national average? By 2004, the average student loan debt among graduating seniors was $19,237, according to the 2003-2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. One-quarter of undergraduate students had a debt of $24,936 or more, and one-tenth had borrowed $35,213 or more.

Most people assume that affirmative action softens the blow of rising tuition for minority students. On the contrary. Low-income and minority students are more likely to have higher debt levels. U.S. Department of Education statistics show that black students are 19 percent more likely to have student debt and 26 percent more likely than whites to have borrowed more than $20,000. Low-income and minority students are also more likely to drop out of college, and their inability to cope with the costs is a key cause, some experts say.

Given the soaring increases in tuition, students will look for the best deal, and it’s not in Wisconsin. One way to measure that is to look at Pell Grants, which go to low-income students. Wisconsin has a net outflow of Pell recipients, meaning we lose more student grantees than we gain. Meanwhile, the percentage of students from low-income families attending UW-Madison has been dropping for two decades.

In the last decade, as the JS story noted, tuition rose from $2,860 to $6,330 at UW-Madison and from $2, 847 to $6,191 at UW-Milwaukee.

The main reason for the increase is declining state support, which must be made up by hiking tuition. Tuition is the fastest-rising of all taxes and fees in Wisconsin. Though Democrats have been somewhat resistant at times, the bipartisan approach to budget control for at least the last 15 years has been to stiff the students, passing on the highest fee increases to them. Students, you see, are less likely to vote.

A New York Times story some time ago described the impact of debt levels on a law school graduate who wanted to be a public defender but was eventually forced to take a job in corporate law because her debt payments were so high. Democrats might want to consider whether high debt levels are pushing graduates to take jobs that turn them into Republicans.

Many legislators of both parties owe their careers to a UW-System education. Are they committed to providing the same opportunity to the next generation? Or will they gradually make college unaffordable for low-income and even lower middle-class students?

Why Miller and Coors

A Boston Globe editorial called the decision by the Miller and Coors brewing companies to pursue a joint venture a “Merger of the tasteless.” The editorial was mostly a slap at the companies’ beers, while touting Massachusetts-made microbeers. But the lack of taste of macrobrews is arguably the main reason for the proposed merger.

Sure, the two companies would bring a lot of brands under one roof. MillerCoors will now have “the broadest import portfolio” in the U.S., one expert noted.

But where do most sales come from? Miller Lite accounts for 47 percent of Miller Brewing’s total sales, with Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life providing another 33 percent. Coors is even more concentrated, with an amazing 72 percent of sales coming from Coors Light.

Meanwhile, Budweiser is heavily dependent on sales of Bud Light and Budweiser.

The difference in taste between the three companies’ lights and lagers was never huge. But that’s all the more true today, when we are inundated in microbrews with wildly different flavors – dark beers, amber beers, pale ales, Weiss beers, you name it. Drinkers buying beer based on taste will choose among the many styles.

Those with less adventurous taste buds can be swayed by image ads, and that’s where Budweiser, which had a $512 million ad budget in 2006, had a huge advantage over SABMiller ($240 million in 2006) and Coors ($185 million). Budweiser has maintained its lead by out-advertising the other companies.

But the MillerCoors joint venture is eventually expected to cut $500 million in costs per year for the two companies. That’s a lot of money that could be poured into building a better image for their lights and lagers.

In short, the merger of the two companies should be a boon to advertising agencies. And since both Coors and Miller have used Chicago agencies, the merger could be great news for that city. It’s also great news for sports programming, which can expect an infusion of more money for beer ads.

Meanwhile, it’s a safe assumption that little, if any, of that $500 million will be spent to create a better tasting beer.

The Buzz

-Wisconsin has always ranked low in the amount of federal spending it receives, and voters have never punished politicians for failing to bring home the federal bacon. Thus, Gov. Jim Doyle’s hospital tax, which would have grabbed more federal Medicaid money for Wisconsin, was shot down by Republicans as part of the budget compromise.

-A Journal Sentinel story last week showed Milwaukee had the seventh-most police officers per 100,000 population among American cities. We also know Milwaukee ranks high in the amount of overtime compared to police departments in other cities, according to a study by the Milwaukee comptroller. In short, it seems obvious the department is not allocating personnel in an efficient manner. So far, some Common Council members have been concerned about this, but what about Mayor Tom Barrett?

-Readers will recall my prediction that Milwaukee will have trouble recruiting a top national candidate for police chief so long as the position can’t pay more than what the mayor earns. It now looks like Edward Flynn is the favored candidate for the post, but he currently earns $155,000 as police chief of Springfield, Mass. Mayor Barrett earns $143,883. The Common Council would be wise to sign a proposed measure to boost the salary for chief.

And check out our new column, The Sports Nut.