By the numbers
Enrollment in Wisconsin’s system of two-year colleges has declined steadily since its peak in 2011, data from the UW Office of Policy Analysis & Research show.
The data report the level of full-time equivalent enrollment, which accounts for part-time enrollment. A campus’s headcount measures the number of students enrolled regardless of status.
As the Badger Institute previously reported, the decrease in students attending what are now branch colleges has raised questions about the future of the program.
The number of active branch colleges is being trimmed from 13 to seven. Campuses in Richland Center, West Bend and Fond du Lac have already closed, and campuses in Menasha and Waukesha will be shut down by 2025. The campus in Marinette is transitioning away from fully in-person classes to online classes.
At the remaining branches, enrollment has gone down over the last decade at each campus, with only minor upticks observed for a few schools in recent years.
In another report, the Badger Institute pointed out that the remaining branch colleges are located in close proximity to technical colleges that now offer liberal arts courses of their own. Comparison of enrollment records revealed that as enrollment decreased for branch colleges, technical college enrollment increased, and vice versa.
Full reports are available from the Universities of Wisconsin Office of Policy Analysis & Research.
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