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Madison — If elected to the state's top job this fall, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker would become the first Wisconsin governor in 64 years who doesn't have a college degree, breaking the mold of the current crop of governors nationally.

That's either an important symbolic shortcoming or an irrelevant distinction, depending on whom you ask.

It's cropping up a bit in the Republican primary for governor, and it would put a personal dimension to an issue he would handle as governor - getting more college students to finish their degrees and stay in Wisconsin.

His rival in the Republican primary, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, has made a subtle reference to Walker's lack of a degree with a feature on his website that compares his résumé with his opponents'. Neumann has a master's degree and the Democrat in the race, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, has a law degree.

Neumann and Barrett received A's and B's in school, according to transcripts they released at the Journal Sentinel's request.

Walker declined to release his transcripts, but his campaign said he had a grade-point average of 2.59, in the C's. He had just established status as a senior when he left after four years of mostly full-time coursework at Marquette University.Walker's supporters - and even some of his detractors - say it shouldn't matter that he didn't attain a degree.

"There are tens of thousands of people with master's degrees who don't have the common sense God gave a rabbit," said state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), who has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"Whether you spend two, four (or) six years hanging around a classroom has no bearing on whether you can hold elective office. . . . Anybody who knows Scott Walker knows he could take six months off and sit in a boring classroom and it wouldn't make him one whit more qualified."

Nevertheless, several of Walker's top campaign aides have urged him over the years to finish the degree and take it off the table as a potential campaign issue.

Walker, for his part, has said at times that he wished he could finish so his children would see that he had followed through. He said in an interview he should be judged on his record of keeping taxes down in Milwaukee County rather than whether he finished college.

Just three of the country's 50 sitting governors fell short of a college degree, a review of biographies shows. Most of the graduates have an advanced degree, typically a law degree.

Economic investment

The failure to finish college is a hot topic nationally as states seek to compete in the so-called knowledge-based economy. In Wisconsin, education and business leaders are trying to increase the number of college graduates in the state.

The National Governors Association has just launched an initiative to reverse America's slide from first to 12th among nations in the number of students - and returning adults - who complete degrees.

Better-educated places enjoy higher income, less crime and more civic participation, according to economic research. College graduates now earn 82% more than high school graduates - double the gap of 30 years ago.

Wisconsin has lagged in higher education attainment, with three-quarters of its residents over 25 lacking a college degree.

At a time when knowledge is the critical force driving economic prosperity, Milwaukee faces an increasing disadvantage, according to a Journal Sentinel analysis published in June. The city's pool of college-educated adults ranks 47th among the country's 50 biggest cities, the analysis found. Milwaukee County fares only a little better.

To become an average city among the top 50, Milwaukee would need an additional 36,000 adults with college degrees. Since 1990, the city has added fewer than 1,000 a year.

Maria Flores, a college student from Cudahy who sits on the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board, said she had mixed feelings about a candidate without a degree having input on education issues.

She looks more at a candidate's platform, not credentials. But in an age when young students need to know that college is the pathway to a good job, it's important that leaders have a degree to set an example, said Flores, who wants to teach middle school social studies.

"I want people in leadership roles who my students can look to," she said.

The next governor will be in charge of the budget for the University of Wisconsin System and the state's technical schools. The governor also appoints the regents who oversee the system.

All the candidates have said they consider education a priority, and Walker said he wants to boost college graduation rates to improve the economy.

Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political scientist, said he did not expect Walker's lack of a degree to become a major campaign issue. If Barrett or Neumann criticized Walker about it, they would risk losing the votes of the large majority of state residents who don't have college degrees, he said.

Walker released a letter from Marquette that showed he attended the school for four years, from 1986 to 1990, and would have needed to stay there for at least another year to get a degree. He had 94 credits and would have needed at least 36 more. The exact number of credits he needed isn't clear because students must take classes in certain areas of study to get degrees.

Walker did not return to Marquette in the fall of 1990 when he ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly. He said he left school after the previous semester because he'd taken a job with the American Red Cross, not because of his political ambition. He won a special election to the Assembly in 1993.

Education is an essential ingredient in bolstering the state's economy, he said, adding he believes he can make that case even without a degree himself. He said he expects his two high school-age sons will go to college.

"A diploma, I think, is just a necessity to get a job in today's economy," Walker said. "So as governor I'm going to push as many opportunities, affordable opportunities, as possible."

Asked how he performed in school, Walker said: "I'd have to go back. That was 20 years ago. I mean, I had some classes I was more interested in than others, I suppose."

Candidate comparison

Neumann has included a chart on his website that compares his résumé with Walker's and Neumann's. The first entry notes that Walker doesn't have a degree. But Neumann didn't criticize Walker on the issue in an interview, saying it was "up to the voters" to decide whether the issue is relevant.

Barrett declined an interview request on the issue.

Last year, Neumann garnered the support of former state Administration Secretary Jim Klauser, who raised concerns at the time about Walker's lack of a degree. Klauser in December switched sides and backed Walker.

Klauser said recently that he initially believed Democrats could use Walker's lack of a degree against him, but now he does not see it as a major issue that could hurt him.

"I don't think the race goes to the person with the most college credits," he said. "It's one of those things where it would be good to have finished it, but I think in the end he will be judged on his record and Tom (Barrett)'s record."

Neumann graduated magna cum laude in 1975 from UW-Whitewater after majoring in mathematics and minoring in coaching. He earned a master's degree in supervision and instruction leadership from UW-River Falls in 1977.

Barrett graduated in the top 20% of his class from UW-Madison in 1976 with a major in economics and political science. He went on to get a law degree from UW-Madison in 1980, graduating cum laude.

The last Wisconsin governor to not have a college degree was Walter S. Goodland, who ran the state from 1943 to 1947. Goodland, a Republican, attended Lawrence College but did not get a degree.

Among sitting chief executives, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert do not have college degrees.