Beaver Dam Lake, Wisconsin. Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash.
Wisconsin's Senate Bill 856 and the identical Assembly Bill 857, which would have provided climate change scholarships, died in committee when the legislature ceased to conduct general business in the 2025-2026 legislative session.
The bills would, if enacted, have created a program to award "scholarships to resident students who are enrolled in an institution of higher education [in Wisconsin] and who are engaged in studies directly related to programs preparing the students for careers in occupational areas addressing or responding to climate change."
The bills would have provided $5 million biennially to fund the scholarships. The scholarships would have been capped at $5000 per student per year; half of the scholarships would have been awarded on the basis of academic merit and half on the basis of financial need.
