UW satellite campuses offering vaccine lottery for students

(The Center Square) – Students at the University of Wisconsin’s smaller campuses have a chance to win almost a year’s worth of tuition just for getting vaccinated.

UW President Tommy Thompson on Sunday announced the 70 For 70 initiative.

The idea is to offer 70 $7,000 scholarships as long as 70% of the students at the school’s other campuses get vaccinated by October 15th.

“As we welcome students back to campus this fall, we want their experience to be as normal and safe as we can make it,” Thompson said in a statement. “That means students should get vaccinated, and we will incentivize it.”

UW-Madison is not part of the vaccine lottery. Campus officials say they are looking at their own incentive program to get students at the main campus vaccinated.

The price for a year’s worth of tuition for a Wisconsin student at UW-Eau Claire is just over $8,000, it’s a little higher at $9,000 at UW-La Crosse, and tuition is about $7,5000 at UW-Oshkosh. The costs are similar for most of the UW System’s 12 smaller campuses. So the $7,000 scholarship would cover almost a full year of tuition cost at many campuses.

The 70 For 70 is flexible, meaning if one campus doesn’t reach the 70% threshold, its share of the nearly half-million dollars in tuition scholarships will be sent to other campuses that hit the mark.

Thompson says adding a bit of competition to the vaccine push isn’t a bad thing.

“Getting students vaccinated now is why the UW System is making this commitment,” Thompson said. “We are investing for success. And vaccinated students will not only keep our campuses safe and healthy, but also help us to avoid the human and capital costs associated with outbreaks we want to prevent.”

The 70 For 70 will be in addition to any incentives that campus chancellors are offering their students.

The UW System is not requiring students to be vaccinated to return to campus this fall. But unvaccinated students and faculty members can expect more testing and monitoring throughout the year.

Thompson did not say how many UW students are already vaccinated. Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services says just 51% of people in the state have had at least one dose of the vaccine. Though most of the people who’ve been vaccinated are older.

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