The University of Wisconsin continues to lose students at its smaller campuses.
The university on Monday released the enrollment figures for its branch campuses, and once again enrollment fell at most of them. Five of the nine remaining UW branch campuses lost students compared to last fall:
Both UW-Milwaukee’s Waukesha campus and UW-Oshkosh’s Fox Cities campus are closing at the end of this school year. Four other campuses, UW-Eau Claire Barron County, UW-Green Bay Manitowoc, UW-Green Bay Sheboygan, UW-Whitewater Rock County all saw enrollment jump this fall. Four other UW branch campuses have already closed.
The increases, however, are varied. While UW-Green Bay Manitowoc added 90 students compared to last fall, the UW-Green Bay Sheboygan added just five. The mixed-bag of enrollment at the UW’s branch campuses comes after similar varied enrollment numbers for the university’s four-year campuses. As a whole, the university said there are about 1,000 more students on campuses this fall. But UW-Madison alone added over 1,000 students this fall, which offset enrollment declines at five other four-year campuses. Some of the drop in enrollment at the UW’s branch campuses is a result of fewer high school kids taking dual-enrollment classes while still in high school. The university, however, did not say which branch campuses fall into that camp.
The enrollment figures come as the University of Wisconsin is asking for more money from state lawmakers. The UW wants $855 million more in the next state budget. The university is getting $1.3 billion in state money in the current state budget. UW President Jay Rotyhman has said in the past that if lawmakers don’t give the school more money, the university will be forced to raise tuition again.
State Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said last week that he wants to see the university “right size” its operations before the legislature gives it more money.
Campus | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha County | 2215 | 2026 | 2060 | 2014 | 2038 | 2035 | 2093 | 2240 | 2248 | 2118 | 2175 | 2261 | 2085 | 1868 | 1740 | 1767 | 1542 | 1221 | 1049 | 790 | 708 |
UW-Eau Claire-Barron County | 647 | 625 | 575 | 587 | 606 | 627 | 679 | 715 | 706 | 634 | 603 | 613 | 578 | 497 | 512 | 642 | 454 | 423 | 401 | 455 | 463 |
UW-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus | 636 | 655 | 642 | 584 | 594 | 543 | 550 | 614 | 666 | 614 | 530 | 461 | 478 | 364 | 334 | 311 | 237 | 287 | 341 | 373 | 404 |
UW-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus | 798 | 753 | 731 | 691 | 725 | 782 | 856 | 875 | 896 | 836 | 753 | 770 | 727 | 637 | 560 | 581 | 381 | 411 | 447 | 440 | 435 |
UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities | 1737 | 1690 | 1742 | 1730 | 1745 | 1650 | 1731 | 1830 | 1822 | 1799 | 1760 | 1702 | 1557 | 1367 | 1286 | 1629 | 1134 | 925 | 714 | 605 | 563 |
UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County | 651 | 640 | 616 | 616 | 666 | 679 | 597 | 594 | 617 | 597 | 580 | 567 | 538 | 523 | 461 | 494 | 360 | 225 | 216 | 179 | 210 |
UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield | 631 | 667 | 657 | 592 | 636 | 628 | 674 | 711 | 715 | 628 | 650 | 623 | 649 | 535 | 541 | 545 | 431 | 395 | 346 | 344 | 283 |
UW-Stevens Point at Wausau | 1300 | 1334 | 1296 | 1315 | 1368 | 1364 | 1388 | 1410 | 1368 | 1275 | 1260 | 1107 | 978 | 841 | 779 | 802 | 587 | 536 | 531 | 404 | 364 |
UW-Whitewater at Rock County | 918 | 893 | 888 | 929 | 912 | 1058 | 1175 | 1215 | 1289 | 1305 | 1224 | 1152 | 1155 | 1038 | 908 | 975 | 862 | 771 | 644 | 593 | 696 |
UW Colleges Online | 366 | 524 | 673 | 934 | 1062 | 1212 | 1163 | 1290 | 1520 | 1624 | 1764 | 2290 | 2351 | 2510 | 2632 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UW-Milwaukee at Washington County | 961 | 987 | 955 | 968 | 1018 | 1018 | 1040 | 1117 | 1037 | 998 | 990 | 937 | 869 | 760 | 730 | 744 | 605 | 500 | 387 | 332 | 285 |
UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus | 514 | 497 | 523 | 466 | 459 | 469 | 569 | 526 | 461 | 464 | 507 | 495 | 465 | 292 | 289 | 306 | 203 | 215 | 240 | 242 | 213 |
UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac | 719 | 692 | 772 | 763 | 751 | 736 | 779 | 794 | 749 | 692 | 707 | 627 | 594 | 523 | 563 | 579 | 444 | 394 | 281 | 258 | 252 |
UW-Platteville Richland | 521 | 516 | 467 | 450 | 449 | 474 | 495 | 454 | 476 | 523 | 555 | 567 | 528 | 278 | 273 | 366 | 159 | 108 | 75 | 60 | 0 |
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