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The Real World Can Wait (11 Years In College, 28 Year Old Doesn't Want To Graduate)
Wisconsin State Journal ^ | April 7, 2005 | Doug Erickson

Posted on 04/07/2005 9:57:22 AM PDT by MisterRepublican

WHITEWATER - At the off-campus house Johnny Lechner shares with three other UW- Whitewater students, the stairway to his attic bedroom is lined with photos dating back to his freshman year.

Lechner has lost track of many of the buddies that posed with him at these long- ago fraternity parties and Homecoming parades. They have moved on to new lives - careers, wives, children, mortgages - and that's just not Lechner's scene.

"I could have - should have - graduated many years ago, but I keep passing on the real world's invitation," said Lechner, 28, who is in his 11th year as a student in the University of Wisconsin System, the last 10 at UW-Whitewater. He's taken a full course load every semester except the current one, in which he's taking seven credits.

Lechner has completed 234 college credits, about 100 more than needed to graduate and so many that he's now paying the so-called "slacker tax."

System students who exceed 165 total credit hours - or 30 more than their degree programs require, whichever is higher - pay double tuition. The Board of Regents instituted the surcharge this school year as a none-too-subtle hint that a state-subsidized education has its limits.

The slacker tax doubles full- time tuition at UW-Whitewater (12 to 18 credits) to $4,816 a semester. With the surcharge, Lechner is paying $2,810 per semester for his seven-credit load.

It is a measure of Lechner's campus notoriety that many classmates call the slacker tax "The Johnny Lechner Rule." While he doesn't mind being known as "that guy who has been in college forever," Lechner declines to take credit for the Regents' sweeping policy change.

(Excerpt) Read more at madison.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: academia; cheeseheads; highereducation
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To: lolhelp

Forgot to say her Mother is my sister and none of us have anything to do with her, tried for years and finally gave up, she wanted to micromanage our lives also and caused to many family problems it was unreal.


101 posted on 04/07/2005 11:55:59 AM PDT by lolhelp
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To: Junior

Read the whole article. He pays his own way (double the matriculation fees of other students because he has more credits than he needs to graduate).

No. The article says he's payed his own way and taken out loans since after the first two years of school (which were covered by his parents).

Taking out loans covered by mom n dad isnt paying your own way


102 posted on 04/07/2005 11:59:43 AM PDT by skaterboy (My baby is an American badass)
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To: Quilla

Who does your sister share her income with to make them equal? If she doesn't have an income partner yet, please email me so I may send my info to you to pass along to her. She may as well be the one to get that "income equality" ball rollin'


103 posted on 04/07/2005 12:05:35 PM PDT by whereasandsoforth (Stamp out liberals with the big boot of truth)
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To: MisterRepublican
I got into a very heated argument with a German woman who said that Americans push their kids too hard to grow up too fast. She said German kids can't even get a driver's license until they're close to 20. While I agreed with some of her points we came to the great divide on the subject of higher education. After all, she said, kids can stay in universities as long as they want at no cost to students while they mature. When I pointed out that SHE, the German taxpayer, was paying for this "free" ride she adamantly denied it. Now, this is the same woman who went ballistic when the government tried to tax the radio she brought from home for her private use in her business. Go figure...socialism reigns in higher ed no matter where you live.
104 posted on 04/07/2005 12:11:45 PM PDT by Magnolia (Pennies a day help keep Liberals at bay.....become a monthly donor!)
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To: whereasandsoforth

As far as I can tell her interpretation of income equality is still in the theory stage rather than in actual practice. The moment she starts doling out the dollars, I'll holler. ;-)


105 posted on 04/07/2005 12:38:11 PM PDT by Quilla
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To: MisterRepublican

"There's a time and a place for everything. And it's called college." - Chef


106 posted on 04/07/2005 12:42:02 PM PDT by lugsoul (Wild Turkey)
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To: MisterRepublican

I wonder how much of any practical relevance the lad's actually learned during that stretch at U/W.


107 posted on 04/07/2005 12:46:25 PM PDT by Fruitbat
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To: Deaf Smith

GI BILL lasts for 36 months. Or about 4 years of being enrolled in college classes. Everything else you said...free food, room and board, i would say is garbage. Maybe they got a tuition waiver and lived off the GI Bill, but thats about it.


108 posted on 04/07/2005 5:32:33 PM PDT by chudogg (www.chudogg.blogspot.com)
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To: jude24
Worked hard and didn't change my major.

That doesn't hurt either! But I suspect you must also be a caffeine achiever!

109 posted on 04/07/2005 10:55:25 PM PDT by Triggerhippie
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To: phil1750

"I constantly pointed out to him that he needed to thank me for my tax dollars."

As long as you thanked him for his service, that's fine.


110 posted on 04/09/2005 1:46:13 PM PDT by Flightdeck (I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.)
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