UW Oshkosh is estimated to have seen a 4.7% drop in enrollment, the largest decrease in the Universities of Wisconsin system, according to preliminary data released Sept. 16.

UWO, one of five Universities of Wisconsin (UWs) to see a decrease in first-day student headcounts, reported 13,127 undergraduate, graduate and high school students on the first day of classes, which is a decrease of 651 students from last year’s 10-day enrollment figures.

The only other schools that saw a decrease in preliminary enrollment data as compared to last year’s 10-day enrollment figures were UW-Platteville (281 students), UW-Milwaukee (186), UW-Parkside (154 students) and UW-Stout (68 students).

UW Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said in an email to staff Sept. 16 that the university is still assessing its official 10-day enrollment census.

“As I shared at convocation, we factored an enrollment decline as a possible outcome and modeled budget scenarios accordingly,” Leavitt said. “Indications are undergraduate headcount will be down about 5.6%. That’s a reflection of a 2024 recruitment cycle that included difficult but necessary decisions to strengthen the university’s long-term viability. Challenging publicity this year didn’t help UWO.”

Although the university has seen a decrease in enrollment, UWO’s Honors College enrollment grew 14% to more than 500 students, and the college’s first-year class was up 40%.

UWO’s dual enrollment Cooperative Academic Partnership Program (CAPP), which offers college credit to more than 5,000 Wisconsin high school students, saw a 3% projected enrollment increase for fall 2024.

The UWs saw an increase of 1,058 students across a total of 13 universities, and the overall estimated system enrollment is 163,589 students for this school year, the most since 2020.

UW-Eau Claire (20 students), UW-Green Bay (411 students), UW-La Crosse (164 students), UW-Madison (1,394 students), UW-River Falls (25 students), UW-Stevens Point (79 students), UW-Superior (36 students) and UW-Whitewater (262 students) all saw an increase in enrollment data as compared to last year’s 10-day enrollment figures.

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said that the increase comes despite severe challenges caused by the disruptive roll out of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) financial aid form and a lack of funding for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise.

“The fact that overall enrollment is up at the UWs despite the federal FAFSA fiasco is proof positive that Wisconsinites know that education unlocks opportunities,” Rothman said. “We simply didn’t see the typical late surge of enrollments that we would have in normal years and that comes down to FAFSA completion and uncertainty over financial aid awards – something that could have been helped with a tuition promise for the fall 2024 cohort.”