Evers defends $800M UW funding proposal, reacts to branch campus enrollment data delay
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Governor Tony Evers defended his $800 million budget proposal for the University of Wisconsin System as officials continue to grapple with rising costs, dwindling enrollment and campus closures.
Under Evers' state budget proposal, $400 million over the 2025-2027 biennium would be distributed to the UW System, making it the largest budget proposal in state history.
While touring the UW-Madison campus Wednesday, Evers made his pitch for the massive spending increase. Evers stressed it would address rising costs and make tuition more affordable for low-income students.
"We have an obligation to make sure the system itself is in a good place, and it can't be done with just nickel and diming it every year," said Evers.
The GOP-controlled Legislature is almost certain to scale back Evers' request, although the governor was optimistic new legislative maps enacted this year could change the power dynamic in Madison.
Rep. Mark Born, the Republican co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, said he wasn't impressed with new enrollment data and believes cutbacks, specifically with the number of UW employees, could be on the table during budget negotiations.
"Part of the discussion needs to be about right sizing your operation. Not just new money," Born said. "Is there inflation? Yes. So, there's certainly new costs, but there's new spending that might not be necessary."
This week, the UW System released new enrollment projections that are based on the number of students who are enrolled, even if not full-time. Overall, the data showed most universities saw an increase compared to last year, while others were relatively flat.
The largest campus, UW-Madison, received the biggest uptick compared to last fall, with nearly 1,400 more students. UW-Whitewater also reported an increase, with 11,522 students enrolled (+262).
UW-Milwaukee recorded a slight decline (-185), and UW-Oshkosh suffered the worst, with 651 fewer students than the 2022-2023 school year.
It comes as pressure continues to build on officials to recruit high school students when high costs, student debt and declining enrollment leads to closures.
Six out of 13 branch campuses have closed or will by the end of next year. Those include:
- UW-Platteville Richland
- UW-Milwaukee at Washington County
- UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha
- UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac
- UW-Green Bay Marinette
- UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities
Branch Campus Enrollment Data Harder to Obtain
The UW System did not release branch campus enrollment numbers in their latest projections, data that experts say will provide less transparency.
Bill Lueders, who works to promote government transparency at the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called the decision "deeply disappointing" after the UW System linked the six branch closures to declining enrollment.
"This is the kind of thing that breeds distrust in public institutions," Lueders said. "It's foolhardy because these numbers will still be obtainable through public records requests. So, the new effect of this change will be that the UW System will look like it's trying to hide something."
The UW System typically reports these figures upon request.
When asked about transparency concerns, Evers agreed branch campus data should be released and said officials are working on a solution.
When asked for comment, a spokesman for the UW System said "given the interest," they anticipate sharing individual branch campus enrollments "later this fall."
"We recognize the interest in branch campus enrollment figures and are exploring the development of branch campus enrollment estimates based on first-day counts," said Mark Pitch, spokesman for the UW System.