Audit: UW tuition revenue grew $366M over 9 years as nonresident enrollment surged

Todd Richmond:

The University of Wisconsin System’s in-state student enrollment has dropped sharply over the past nine years, reflecting declining regional populations and System efforts to get students to graduation faster, according to a report state auditors released Monday.

The loss of in-state students has been nearly offset by rising nonresident enrollment, helping total tuition revenue grow by $336 million, even as resident tuition has been frozen since 2013, the report said.

UW System President Ray Cross didn’t address the enrollment shift in a letter to auditors responding to the report. He did cite declining enrollment in 2017 to justify his plan to merge the System’s two-year schools with its four-year campuses.