All right. Hi, everybody.
I think we've got everybody on
the call. Give you a minute to
set up recording.
If that's what you want to do.
Let me know if anybody at
this moment does not yet have an
opportunity to record.
Very good. Well, thanks for joining
us today. As we mentioned, we're
on embargo till about noon when
our press release will go out.
So thanks for agreeing to
that.
President Rothman will have a few
opening remarks.
Then we'll open it up for questions.
I'll start recording myself
after I speak and then turn
it over to President Rothmann.
Recording in progress.
Okay. All right.
Thanks, Mark. And good morning,
everyone. Thank you for joining us
today. I'm pleased to announce that
the universities of Wisconsin have
just experienced a third straight
year of enrollment increases
with our final 10-day numbers now
in the books.
This three-year increase
is the first time we have achieved
that since 2010,
well over a decade ago.
With the enrollment increases, nine
of our 13 universities have
showed an increase in
this year compared to last
year. And while this is good for the
universities, it really helps us
support our mission to the state of
Wisconsin, and that's what we are
focused on.
These new folks who are
enrolled and are our continued
students will be the ultimate
graduates that will help fill the
jobs that the great employers in the
state are creating.
And these are the future teachers
and nurses and
engineers and data scientists
business people that our state
needs.
In order to thrive economically
and to win the war for talent.
So we are very pleased about
those increases and being
able to serve the state of
Wisconsin.
Of particular note is the
number of Wisconsin resident new
freshmen enrolled at our
universities.
The increase was at a record rate
this year.
We had an increase of more than
1,000 students in
that new freshman Wisconsin
resident.
Compared to last year, which
reflects a 5.5 percent
increase.
And certainly when I think about how
that was achieved, I certainly have
to give a lot of credit to the
enrollment officers and the
financial aid officers and others
at our universities who work day in
and day out to help drive
enrollment.
But I think it is also reflective of
the impact of Direct Admit Wisconsin
and the Wisconsin Tuition Promise
that is in effect for the cohort
that started this fall.
In fact, seven of our universities
participating in direct admit saw
gains of 9% or more.
Seven saw gains at 9%
or more in New Wisconsin
resident freshmen compared
to the fall of 2024.
Our overall enrollment this
year with the final numbers stands
at 164,626
students which is about 190
students more than the fall
of 2024 And
I think it's really indicative of
the fact that our increased freshman
enrollment offset
drops in our international
enrollment and international
enrollment being down 7.7%
this year, but our new
freshmen coming in at more than
offset that decline.
And we are very pleased about where
our enrollment numbers, the final
numbers have have turned out.
So with that, again, thank you for
being here and I would welcome any
questions that you may have.
Thanks, President Rothman.
Marissa, can you start us off?
Sure, can you talk about the
additional closure of the two-year
Baraboo campus?
Absolutely, a decision that
that Platteville made relative to
that campus, what we have
asked each of our chancellors who
have responsibility for branch
campuses is to evaluate
their financial viability
in light of those
campuses experiencing, at least in
some instances,
declines in enrollment to a
level that would not make them
financially viable based on
the relationship with the main
campus.
That was a difficult decision to
make, but I think ultimately it
is the right decision to make
for the universities of Wisconsin as
we move forward.
But I think if we circle back
and said even with some of those
closures, our Wisconsin resident
new freshmen are up 5.5%
this year, which tells us
that certainly the
accessibility that is
in Wisconsin is important.
And it has helped drive
that level of increased
freshman enrollment at our
universities.
Sabina.
Yeah, with the clear success of
the Wisconsin tuition promise this
year, is it clear that it will
be renewed, the funding
for it will be renewed in 2026?
Well, the funding for the one
that was done this fall was a
combination. We had some internal
funds that we applied to it
and we also got a grant from
Ascendium Group that
will support that cohort over
their four years while they're
at our universities.
There is not state funding.
We have requested on
in two biennium for state funding
for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise
and we have not been successful in
that. We will continue to
advocate that as we move forward.
But as things stand right now for
the fall of 2026, there's
not that specific tuition promise
in place.
Now, with that said, our
universities have done an
extraordinary job of
providing institutional aid support
that they provide to try to
make education
available to whatever student
is has the passion and the desire
to attend one of
our universities. And we are going
to continue to work that.
But I remain hopeful that ultimately
we will get state funding for a
tuition promise because I think it
is important to the long-term
economic viability of Wisconsin.
Good morning.
Good morning, Kelly.
Good morning.
I'm wondering, can you offer any
guarantees that the remaining branch
campuses will remain open?
You know, I think, Kelly, as we look
at the branch campuses, I think I've
been consistent in saying they
have to be financially viable to
be successful.
We have some that are growing in
enrollment, which is a good thing.
I think each of them need to be
looked at on an individual by
individual basis,
but I'm not in a position to offer
guarantees because, again,
we have to looking at and ensuring
that we are managing
and being good stewards of the
resources that we have.
And ensuring that those branch
campuses are financially viable.
Uh, Todd.
I don't have anything, thanks.
Uh, how about cake?
Yeah, I was just wondering, it looks
like UW-Madison enrollment went
down slightly.
I'm wondering if you've seen that at
all happening in recent years and
I guess what you might attribute
that to.
I mean, that's an aberration for
our flagship, which has had
continued growth over a number
of years.
And I think I attribute it
predominantly to the drop in
international students at
Madison. I mean they have a limit in
terms of how many students they can
take, particularly incoming freshmen
based on their dorm availability.
But I think if you look at
it, it is directly attributable to
the decline in international
student.
Rich.
President Rothman, do you think the
drop in international students has
anything to do with the president's,
his administration's approach
towards visas, canceling
some visas, et cetera, just the
overall atmosphere with regard to
how the administration is
interacting with that group?
Yeah, I think certainly the
availability and the timeliness of
students securing visas certainly
had an impact on
on our international enrollments.
And you know it's it's an area
that we will continue to
try to work on to try,
to be able to offer that
opportunity, because we think those
students can enrich our universities
in terms of providing
diversity different perspectives
and so forth helpful not only to
the students.
Who are coming internationally to
attend our universities, but
certainly for students from the
state of Wisconsin who are able to
interact with them.
Could I follow up quickly?
I mean, I'm thinking about in terms
of the tuition in state versus out
of state, that sort of a thing.
Does it have a bigger financial
impact on the universities when
they see a reduction
in international enrollment?
No, it can because out of state
tuition is higher than in state, so
it has some impact.
But again, I mean, the number of
international students we have,
which is at about 10,000
compared to a base of 164,000
students generally, it is
an impact, but it's not a
huge impact and certainly something
that particularly our flagship is
in a position to manage.
We'll see if we can get a couple
more questions in.
President Rothman does have to
run to a meeting at
noon, but let's see if can get few
more in.
Marissa, do you have another
question?
Nothing else from me right now,
thanks.
Sabina?
Yeah, was the decline in
international students more or less
for what the UW system prepared
for?
Yeah, I think we've been preparing
for that as we read the
environment.
And so that is
not a huge shock
to us, I think, as we look at the
landscape.
But again, I keep coming back to the
5.5 percent increase in
Wisconsin resident new freshmen.
That is really exciting.
I think that is great for the
state of Wisconsin and for us
to have a three-year path
that we have increased enrollment
every single year during that period
of time. Ought to be exciting for
everyone who wants
to see Wisconsin thrive.
Yeah, do you have any, it looks
like you had some data on like how
many campuses are benefiting from
the direct admit.
Do you have data on the Wisconsin
tuition promise?
Like how many students,
Wisconsin students are benefiting
from having that program back with
funding this year?
Yeah, we don't have, I
don't have those specific numbers
yet, Kelly, it may
be something Mark can get for you.
What we know that happened in
2023 when the tuition promise
was offered, we had an uptick
in the participation rate, which is
the rate of high school graduates
going on to higher education.
I suspect we will see the same thing
this year.
And I think that's critical to our
state long term because that
participation rate like it has been
across the nation.
Has been declining over the last
decade or so.
That's not healthy.
That's no healthy for the state of
Wisconsin.
We're gonna need those teachers and
nurses and all those other
professions that are absolutely
critical to the economic
viability
and just quite frankly, the
quality of life that we have in the
state.
Uh, Kate.
Yeah, is there any more you can
share on the data coming from branch
campuses specifically and
the trends?
You know, I think we had a couple of
branch campuses that were up
in enrollment.
We've had a a couple that are down.
And I think Mark can share some
further detail with you
if you want to connect with him, but
he'd be the one that would have
that. I don't have the specific
detail at my fingertips.
Yes, I can certainly get that
to Kate and anybody else that wants
it. I think we'll leave it there.
Thanks again. Everybody appreciate
your interest.
Great. Thanks, everybody.
Have a great day.