OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Spring enrollment has dropped at most University of Wisconsin campuses.
UW-Oshkosh was one of them. But UW-Green Bay saw an increase.
According to UW System data, since last year, spring enrollments at all but two UW campuses have gone down.
“Enrollment numbers in the spring are reflective of the national pandemic, as well as just challenges that students have been having, as a result of that,” UWO assistant vice chancellor of enrollment management Aggie Hanni said.
UWO saw the second highest drop in the state. Data shows spring enrollment at the university decreased by about 8%, but Hanni says, it dropped by more than 10%, when taking all three of its campuses into account.
“The reported numbers – system numbers – for all three of our campuses had us at about 13% to 14% down,” she said. “Again, that has to do with the full three campus totals, not so much individual campus totals, and those show a little bit of a different pattern.”
Even amid the pandemic, UWO leaders tells FOX 11, spring numbers were still better than expected.
“We were predicting a larger decrease in our student population,” said Hanni. “We were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as large as we were preparing ourselves for.”
While spring numbers were down, UWO says it focuses more on fall enrollment. That too, however, showed a downward trend.
“A decrease in enrollment in fall 2020 was really the biggest decrease that we’ve seen, as a result of COVID,” Hanni said. “We’ve seen those numbers start to drop off in spring 2020, but the biggest decrease, again, happened in fall 2020.”
It was a different story for UW-Green Bay. The campus had the second highest increase in spring enrollments, following UW-Madison.
Leaders say enrollment, overall, has grown at UWGB in the past few years, which includes a 2% increase during the pandemic.
UW-Platteville had the most significant drop in spring enrollment in the state.
The UW System, as a whole, had just a 2% drop in spring enrollment numbers since last year.
