Enrollment inches upward for Universities of Wisconsin in 2024

Data shows total enrollment at the Universities of Wisconsin system's four-year schools ticked upward in the fall 2024 semester, with increases at UW-Madison, UW-Green Bay and UW-Superior.

Associated Press

October 30, 2024

A painted fiberglass statue of Bucky Badger wearing graduation attire stands on a sidewalk on a hillside with lawns, mature deciduous trees and a multi-story masonry building with multiple wings in the background.

A statue of Bucky Badger in a graduation cap and gown stands on Bascom Hill on the UW-Madison campus on Sept. 22, 2023. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Overall enrollment in the Universities of Wisconsin system’s four-year schools ticked upward in the fall of 2024 compared with a year earlier, data released Oct. 29 shows.

The system released enrollment numbers as of the 10th day of the 2024 fall semester. They show overall enrollment stood at 164,431 students, up 1.2% from the 10th day of the 2023 fall semester.

UW-Green Bay saw 975 new students for a 10.5% increase in enrollment, the largest percentage jump among the 13 four-year schools. Enrollment at UW-Madison, the system’s flagship university, increased nearly 3%. UW-Superior, the most remote campus, in Douglas County in far northwestern Wisconsin, saw a 3.6% increase.

Five schools saw their enrollment shrink, including Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Parkside, Platteville and Stout.

Overall enrollment at the system’s two-year branch campuses fell 22%. The most dramatic drop-off was at UW-Stevens Point’s Marshfield campus, where enrollment plunged nearly 45% compared with fall 2023.

UW officials have blamed declining numbers of high school graduates and more graduates eschewing college for the workforce for faltering enrollment.