MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – While the overall enrollment at UW System campuses dropped, new freshman enrollment outpaced national averages.
In Thursday’s report from the UW System, despite challenges due to the pandemic, officials say they are in a good spot with enrollment.
In addition, UW-Green Bay stood out for being the fastest-growing UW school for the second year in a row.
The UW System enrollment totaled 162,980 students in fall 2021, a drop of 1.1% compared to the previous year.
By comparison, national estimates show enrollment dropping by 2.3% for fall 2021, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The number of freshmen enrolled at UW System increased 3.9% compared to freshman enrollment nationwide, dropping 3.1%.
And when looking at just the four-year campuses, UW System freshmen enrollment jumped 6%, compared to the national decline of 3% at public four-year campuses.
According to UW-Green Bay, it saw enrollment increases at all four of its campuses in Green Bay, Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan. It says 830 more students chose UW-Green Bay this year, representing total enrollment growth of 9%.
Additionally, UW-Green Bay saw a 63% increase in international students, going from 73 to 119 students.
“We continue to push as hard as we can to make sure UW-Green Bay is right-sized to serve the third largest economic region of Wisconsin,” Chancellor Michael Alexander said. “Our enrollment growth is holistic and supports our view that access to higher education should be available throughout a person’s life. Our faculty and staff deserve enormous credit for the work they did not only to recruit a great incoming class, but also to retain students so well throughout the last year.”
Overall, the data shows 1,786 fewer students in the UW System in fall 2021 compared to fall 2020. About 41% is attributable to the two-year branch campuses. Nationally, community colleges were down 5.6%.
Comments