UW officials would be prohibited from considering race and diversity when awarding state-funded financial aid under a Republican-backed bill debated Thursday at a state Assembly committee hearing, according to the Associated Press.
The bill would require the state Higher Educational Aids Board, which manages financial aid programs, and officials at UW System schools and technical colleges to only weigh financial need and not factors including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or religion when awarding grants and loans or creating enrollment and retention plans.
The proposal comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that universities cannot consider race in the admissions process.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is almost certain to veto the bill and other education proposals the committee considered on Thursday if they are passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The Assembly universities committee also debated bills that would withhold state grants from schools that repeatedly violate free speech rights on campus, and prohibit public universities and high schools from censoring opinions in student media or punishing student reporters and school media advisors for their editorial decisions.
