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WUWM's Emily Files reports on education in southeastern Wisconsin.

Milwaukee has a college completion ‘crisis.' How can programs supporting students better tackle the problem?

Students on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. The average on-time graduation rate at Southeast Wisconsin colleges and universities is 34%.
Emily Files
Students on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus. The average on-time graduation rate at Southeast Wisconsin colleges and universities is 34%.

Milwaukee has lots of nonprofits and educational institutions working to help students go to and stay in college.

But the city still faces what some call a college completion “crisis.” Only about two in three Milwaukee students graduate from high school, and of that group, just 36% enrolled in college in 2020.

The majority of students who do go to college leave before earning a degree. A coalition of southeastern Wisconsin colleges and universities called the Higher Education Regional Alliance reports just 34% of students graduated on time in 2022.

College Material, a new report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum, explores Milwaukee’s leaky education pipeline and outlines how the city’s college access programs could improve.

The report was commissioned by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

This graphic from the Wisconsin Policy Forum illustrates the "leakiness" of Milwaukee's education pipeline.
Screenshot
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Wisconsin Policy Forum
This graphic from the Wisconsin Policy Forum illustrates the "leakiness" of Milwaukee's education pipeline.

"This report is aiming to tackle the issue of too few students in Milwaukee making it through the sort of leaky pipeline of high school all the way to graduation from college," says report co-author Jason Stein. "And that matters both for the futures and livelihoods of those students and their families as well as the region's workforce and economy."

Stein and co-authors Betsy Mueller and Sara Shaw surveyed 29 postsecondary readiness programs in Milwaukee. Some are nonprofits like All-In Milwaukee and College Possible, some are programs housed at Milwaukee Public Schools and colleges like Marquette and UWM.

"These programs are providing support at various stages in students' [postsecondary] educational journeys," Mueller says. "Frequently provided services included logistical support, informal mentorships, scholarships and grants or support accessing those, help with FAFSA and also career counseling."

The authors found that some programs have overlap in the students they are recruiting, and some are struggling to fill their available slots for students.

"That spoke to an opportunity to target more broadly and for some programs to reach out and reach more students," Stein says. "Many programs are targeting either low-income or high-achieving students, which may make a lot of sense. At the same time, there may be students who don't meet the definition of low-income but may still struggle to afford college or they may not meet the definition of higher-achieving but they may still be able to succeed in college."

Mueller and Stein also recommend the college access programs have an annual summit or regular meetings to better coordinate with each other.

But the report authors say none of these programs can be a "silver bullet" that fixes Milwaukee's leaky postsecondary education pipeline.

"Some of [the barriers students face] are outside the scope of what programs could do," Mueller said. "We heard from one provider that their students are facing food insecurity, and that's something that is really difficult for a college access and success program to provide for students."

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Emily is WUWM's education reporter and a news editor.
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