The case dates back to 2021, when a group of Wisconsin taxpayers — including some from Madison — filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court, arguing the state’s Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant program unlawfully discriminates based on race and national origin.
Created by state lawmakers in the 1980s, the program provides thousands of dollars annually to hundreds of students who are African American, American Indian or Hispanic. The program also benefits Southeast Asian students who came to the United States from Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam after 1975.
On average, these student groups drop out of school or fail to graduate at substantially higher rates than their peers, the state argued in a court filing opposing the lawsuit. While the program has seen success, the state said, “the need for its aid persists.”
Among Wisconsin’s participating technical, private and tribal colleges, Madison College received the most funding through the grant program last school year. More than $135,000 was distributed to over 160 students at the technical college, and the average award was $839, according to a report from the state’s Higher Educational Aids Board, which administers the program.