Wisconsin College Voters Remain Unsure After Presidential Visit

MADISON, Wis. — President Joe Biden visited Wisconsin on April 8 for the second time in under a month and spoke about his new student debt relief plan, but Wisconsin college voters still have concerns about the Biden Administration.

Biden announced this plan last Monday morning and traveled to the swing state of Wisconsin the same day, speaking on the campus of Madison Area Technical College.

Some students at the college reported feeling “excited” at the prospect of seeing the President, but many were unaware of his plan for debt relief. Crowds of MATC students stood outside during his arrival, some protesting the President’s involvement in Palestine, but most were simply watching the eclipse that occurred the same day.

“My administration has taken the most significant action to provide student debt relief ever in the history of this country,” Biden said. “I’m proud to announce five major actions to continue to relieve student debt for more than 30 million Americans.”

The President’s Plan includes canceling up to $20,000 in runaway debt and canceling all student debt for borrowers who started repayment more than 20 years ago. He also plans to forgive debt for those eligible for debt forgiveness through the SAVE program but not currently enrolled, along with borrowers from colleges that deliver “little benefits to students,” and for those facing financial hardship.

During this visit, protesters demonstrated, vowing for an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict. According to the White House Press Office, protesters have been present at many of Biden’s visits around the nation.

“It is a requirement for me to ever support a Democrat again, including Biden, is to demand an end to the war on Gaza,” said Jen Edwards, a Madison resident of 10 years and a protester at Biden’s visit on Monday.

This cause heavily affected the Wisconsin Democratic Primaries, where Biden lost a potential 8.3% of voters who voted uninstructed. The highest rates came in Dane County, with 14.6%, and Milwaukee County with 12.3%.

Many movements calling for an end to the conflict, such as “Listen to Wisconsin,” and “Voces de la Frontera Action” encouraged college students to vote uninstructed. These movements gained their highest support from counties containing 4 of the 5 largest colleges in Wisconsin.

These 48,000 uninstructed votes more than double the margin in which the President won Wisconsin in 2020. However, he has not publicly commented on the uninstructed votes.

While many students feel strongly about the Israel-Palestine conflict, Wisconsin students also seemed to have positive reactions to the President’s plan for debt relief.

Ben Kalvin, a student at Madison Area Technical College said, “While this isn’t necessarily the best approach to do it, he’s at least doing something.”

Jay Jaeschke, a student at Madison Area Technical College said, “There’s no plan in the Republicans to take care of that debt, even though the debt is individual … I think there should be some productivity from trying to redistribute those tax dollars.”

Lance Leatherwood, a student in the Universities of Wisconsin said, “I think that it’s a step in the right direction because a lot of kids that really need the education, but it just costs a lot, and so forgiving those student loans would be a good thing.”

President Biden’s remarks were titled “Lowering Costs for Americans,” but focused solely on his student-debt relief plans. Other costs, such as gas, rent, or inflation, were left out.

Steven Bumpus, a student in the Universities of Wisconsin said, “For me, daily [costs] is probably the bigger concern, but I would say it all kind of ties together, like if you have student loan debt paid off, that’s great, but now everyone has more money, and whenever you increase flow of money, you increase inflation which makes everything else cost more.”

Inflation has been a big concern for critics of President Biden, averaging 3.8% throughout 2024. This amount is significantly higher than monthly rates under former President Trump. However, Biden did combat these rates with his Inflation Reduction Act, signed in August 2022, which has slowly dropped the average inflation rate.

In terms of daily costs, the Midwest has seen a 23% increase in gas prices since the beginning of the year. This is coupled with Wisconsin’s increasing rent prices which have reached an 8.05% year-over-year increase, according to research by rent.com.

Some college students also reported mixed feelings about Biden’s visit to Wisconsin.

Valentino Corona, a student at Madison Area Technical College said, “He just goes here, interrupts our class, doesn’t even invite the whole school, you know it’s cool he’s visiting though in general.

Students outside of Madison similarly felt unsure about the visit.

“It’s always nice to see someone caring about the state you live in, but also its like ‘yeah you’re just here to run your campaign’…you’re just showing up because you need the votes, if we weren’t in a swing state, you wouldn’t care,” Bumpus said.

College students and graduates played a large part in President Biden’s 2020 election win. 61% of college graduates voted for Biden, and the 2020 election brought out a historical high of 66% of college voters. With these large numbers in 2020, college students could play a large role in President Biden’s re-election bid for 2024.