Reform, challenges ahead for public higher ed system

(The Center Square) – Declining high school graduates in the state, flat or decreasing enrollment, and reliance on student tuition dollars are chief concerns for a study committee on the University of Wisconsin System.

With plans to meet through the year and into next, the 18-member panel is considering reform and the challenges the state’s higher education public system faces. The Legislative Council Study Committee on the Future of the University of Wisconsin System’s initial meeting Thursday included pouring over a 20-page brief that laid out the concerns.

“Reform happens at regular intervals within the system and it just seems like we’re right for reform,” former Regent Scott Beightol said. “Given all the demographic changes, the way public policy is shaping the loss or diminishment of public support, the need to equip our next generation of workforce, and target what they’re doing.”

University needs, campus infrastructure, and new areas of in-demand classes are key topics the group will address. The committee’s task will also include a look at the university’s Board of Regents and the university’s “governance structure.”

Any consideration of closure to system campuses is unclear.

Within the brief, the panel discussed:

• A demographic bubble that means there will be fewer high school graduates in Wisconsin, and across the country. That bubble also means there will be fewer college students for the next several years.

• Flat or declining enrollment at many of the 13 four-year campuses.

• An over-reliance on student tuition dollars. The brief shows that student tuition dollars are the largest source of funding for the University of Wisconsin, at $1,774,195,332 in the current budget.

• A discrepancy in graduation rates among campuses.

The brief shows that UW-Madison has a nearly 76% four-year graduation rate. UW-Lacrosse is closest, with a 51% four-year graduation rate. All other campuses’ have four-year graduation rates are below 43%.

“We all have a stake in the system’s continued success,” Patricia Brady, former general counsel for the system, told the committee. “We’ve all benefited from it in one way or another, and we want to have it for the future so whatever recommendations the study committee makes will also take time to be implemented.”

Also to potentially be factored in are changes in the Legislature following the election in November. Proposals from the panel go through the legislative process before reaching the governor.