WISCONSIN — A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum mapped out what could be a challenging landscape ahead for four-year public universities in Wisconsin, which overall now rank 43rd nationwide when it comes to funding.
"When you look at funding overall, Wisconsin is a little bit above average when it comes to funding its public institutions, both two-year and four-year campuses," said Jason Stein, vice president and research director of the Wisconsin Policy Forum. "However, there's a real diverging trend in two-year campuses, which in Wisconsin is typically your technical college schools, and your four-year public schools, which is usually your [UW] system campuses, and what you see is that we're in the 'Top 10' for funding our two-year technical college campuses [nationally] and in the bottom ten states nationally for funding four-year campuses."
Possibly tied into those funding challenges at certain universities and colleges is the ongoing dip in enrollment; that isn't necessarily unique to schools in Wisconsin right now.
"We looked at national data that allowed us to compare Wisconsin to other states," Stein said. "Despite there already being a pretty substantial decline nationally, Wisconsin has even more than that at 5.4%— that's really not that different from what we see in other Midwestern states, but we're being hit by demographic issues [as] we just don't have as many students of the age to graduate from high school and when we've had some dip in post-secondary enrollment rate as well— given the labor challenges that we already have in our state and the role that higher ed can play in meeting the demand for skilled workers, this is something that policy makers should reflect on as they work on the state budget and think about possible solutions."
The University of Wisconsin System president, Jay Rothman, released the following statement in response to the report:
“It’s discouraging that UW System’s four-year universities are near the bottom nationally in public funding, ranking 43rd overall in the new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
“Support for the UW System should not continue to fall further behind nationally if we are to be competitive and thrive economically. Wisconsin’s future depends on developing and attracting talent now, and the UW is on the front lines of educating and graduating tens of thousands of students. However, UW’s talent pipeline that helps sustain Wisconsin’s economic vibrancy is stressed at a time when it is needed more than ever to meet workforce needs.
“Fortunately, our four-year universities have shown some positive enrollment signs, with a 1.8% increase in full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment from 2019 to 2021, which ranks Wisconsin eighth-best nationally since 2019. We know that any decline in higher education participation will directly and negatively affect Wisconsin. The UW System is seeking to be innovative and aggressive in producing more graduates to meet Wisconsin’s needs, with initiatives including piloting direct admissions, expanding dual enrollment for high school students, championing financial aid to help meet unmet student need, and increasing degree production in high-demand fields. Yet, accessibility and quality require ongoing investment.
“We also strongly back the report’s suggestions to fund unmet student financial need and invest in mental health services.”
Watch the full interview above.
Read the full report below:
Wisconsin Policy Forum: Higher education funding stabilizes overall, but enrollment still falling by Aly Prouty on Scribd