Tuition Assistance Makes All the Difference

Tuition Assistance Makes All the Difference

Ben Bilitz and Sarah (née Musgrave) Bilitz MLC ’99 are convinced of two very important truths: We dare not underestimate the difficulty some students have in paying college tuition. And we simply cannot overestimate the value of Martin Luther College in our church body.

That’s why the Bilitzes are paying their blessings forward by supporting tuition assistance at MLC today.

Paying Tuition Is Challenging

Sarah remembers well the challenge of making tuition payments as a young college student. Following in the footsteps of her mother, Susan (née Rauch) Musgrave DMLC ’74, Sarah enrolled at DMLC in 1994. She belongs to that cohort of students who enrolled at one college, Dr. Martin Luther College, and graduated from another, Martin Luther College. Though the name changed, however, the bills remained the same. “I remember worrying about paying tuition back when I was in college, and that was when tuition was so much less than it is now,” she says. “Ben and I are thankful that we can alleviate some of that stress from students’ lives.”

Ben recalls that even paying for his area Lutheran high school education was a struggle, especially when he lost his father. “It was not easy for my family to send us to Shoreland,” he says. “While I was in high school, my father passed away. I know there were people that helped provide money to my mom during that time to help with overall expenses.”

Ben and Sarah understand that tuition assistance is help that is right on time. “People who are going to MLC are not in it for the money,” Ben says. “Once they have their first assignment, there is support for them from their school, congregation, and community. Tuition assistance is a way to help them early on.” And the Bilitzes understand the recruitment angle as well. They know the sad truth that some students may give up on their dream to be a pastor, teacher, or staff minister because college is expensive. “It can be a challenging decision to go to MLC,” Ben says.

“We don’t want the cost of college to be a reason someone decides not to pursue being a called worker.”

Once again recalling his youth, Ben says, “God provided for my family when my dad passed, and he continues to provide for our family today. I’d like to use the blessings he’s given us to do our part to help provide support for others who need it most.”

MLC Ministry Training Is Vital

Being closely tied to the church throughout their lives—and having a daughter, Anna, who’s a senior at MLC now—the Bilitzes firmly believe in the importance of ministry training at Martin Luther College.

“Without our WELS training schools, where would we be?” Sarah says. “They are so necessary for continuing to serve our congregations with Christian education. Plus, ministerial training schools are important for our church body as a whole. Whether or not students take a call, they have been trained in God’s Word and can take that knowledge to serve their congregations in so many ways—Sunday school teacher, Lutheran Pioneer leader, Bible study facilitator, choir member, etc. The synod’s investment in ministry training is a blessing to congregations beyond just pastors, teachers, and staff ministers.”

Ben agrees. Because of our excellent Lutheran school system, supported by the called workers produced by MLC, he says we all rest on the same biblical foundation. “The world can be a challenging place, and we believers are not perfect, but having that sound biblical teaching really makes a difference. Also, having been married to Sarah for almost 25 years, I see the depth of training that her years at MLC has provided her. It has certainly been a blessing to our family.”

Paying the Blessings Forward

God certainly has blessed the Bilitzes! Both Ben and Sarah attended St. John Lutheran School in Burlington, Wisconsin, and Shoreland Lutheran High School in Somers, Wisconsin. Ben explains that they weren’t childhood sweethearts, but he likes to tease Sarah that she secretly had a crush on him all those years.

They married shortly after Sarah graduated from MLC in December 1998. That spring Sarah took her double major in elementary ed and secondary English ed to her first assignment in the grade 3-5 classroom at St. Paul-East Troy WI. When their daughter Anna was born in 2002, Sarah transitioned to stay-at-home mom but continued to serve St. Paul as a tutor, organist, and volunteer. Twenty years later, she is teaching again—this time at Peace-Sun Prairie WI, where she puts her English degree to work, teaching eighth grade language arts while the principal, Steve White MLC ’12, ’20, has release time for administrative work. In one of those wonderful WELS connections, Sarah’s principal was her student at East Troy when her ministry began.

Ben, meanwhile, earned an associate degree in police science and then a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He worked in public accounting for about 10 years and then joined Alliant Energy in 2011, where he’s currently the chief accounting officer. He too has been very active in his congregations, serving as treasurer and as a member on many different boards and committees, including Adult Discipleship Committee, Board of Elders, and School Board.

The couple recognizes that Christ’s gifts have been beautifully measured into their lives, and they wish to thank him by sharing their financial blessings with others who need them—including MLC students who are preparing to serve the church as pastors, teachers, and staff ministers.