higher education

Every year the Wisconsin Policy Forum releases a top five list of their most important findings from the year.

Rob Henken is the president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum and he discusses each finding.

1. Shift to online shopping helps taxpayers but not state budget.

Four southeast Wisconsin colleges have made an ambitious pledge: to close racial and income-based graduation gaps within the next 10 years.

Updated 10/22 4:52 p.m.  

Four southeast Wisconsin schools are pledging to close racial and income gaps in college graduation by 2030.

UWM, MATC, UW-Parkside, and Carthage College are the first regional collective to join a national initiative from D.C.-based education firm EAB. The initiative is called Moon Shot for Equity.

Back in April, WUWM talked with three Milwaukee high school seniors about how their college plans were made more uncertain by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the new school year is underway, we checked in with them to see how their plans panned out.

This fall, students’ college decision-making process will look different. Some colleges are still doing in-person tours, but the coronavirus has shut down most face-to-face events.

Last weekend, Cardinal Stritch University found a way to bring back the in-person connection many high school seniors are looking for as they sort through college options: a drive-thru college fair. 

Around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, cars were turning off Port Washington Road onto the main drive surrounding the Cardinal Stritch campus in Glendale.

University of Wisconsin System leaders are working on safety protocols that could enable students to return to campus if the coronavirus pandemic stretches into fall, system President Ray Cross told regents Thursday.

Cross told the regents during a teleconference that system leaders want to be able to test all faculty, staff and students — a task he called “monumental.” They also want to be able to trace student contacts, create a way to isolate and quarantine the sick as well as infected people who aren't showing symptoms.

This is the time of year when many high school seniors are making one of the most important decisions of their lives — where to go to college. But the coronavirus has created tremendous uncertainty as students try to plan for their future.

"I feel like at this point, I’m so lost," says Moo Ko Wah, a senior at MPS’s South Division High School. "At school I have my coaches, my mentor. And here I don’t have nobody."

A relatively new Milwaukee college completion charity working to bolster the number of low-income students of color earning college degrees will more than double the number of young people it serves this year.

All-In Milwaukee provides for its students what many wealthy and middle-class collegegoers take for granted: financial support, help navigating unfamiliar systems, and connections to secure job placement after graduation.

Milwaukee’s Mount Mary University is planning a unique housing project that will serve students who are single mothers, alongside aging nuns and other senior citizens.

This week, a new collaboration between two UW-Milwaukee programs is taking the stage. Students in UWM's unique American Sign Language program are providing live interpretation at a UWM student theater production — a first for the school.

Just 30% of adults in the city of Milwaukee have a college degree. About 22% completed some college, but didn’t graduate. Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) is bolstering its outreach to those adults, who might be interested in giving college another shot.

In his new book, The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us, education writer Paul Tough dismantles the myth of college as a pure meritocracy. Instead, he makes the case that the U.S. higher education system reinforces class and racial inequalities.

Research shows that a college degree, especially from an elite institution, increases one's chances of social mobility. But the people who could most benefit — low-income, first-generation, and black and Hispanic students — often don’t get those opportunities.

Several states have taken steps to make college more affordable by creating free-tuition "promise" programs. Each one is different, but in general, they allow students to attend community college, or sometimes public universities, for free.

Cartoons and comics mean a lot to many kids.  But for some young people, the effect is especially strong and drives them to pursue a career in animation.  From medical, architectural and science, to forensics, industrial and gaming field — there's so much more to animation than Hollywood blockbuster films.

For some young people, just heading off to college can be challenging enough, even before deciding on what course of study might carry them through their adult life. One Milwaukee area school is trying to make navigating that undecided part of the college experience a little easier.

Nineteen-year-old Lauren Buchanan is a student at Bethesda College, a specialized program for students with intellectual disabilities. It is run by the nonprofit Bethesda Lutheran Communities, located on Concordia University's campus in Mequon.

"I wanted to go to college because I wanted to meet new friends, see new people and, like, have good relationships, good friendships with people," Buchanan says.

In 2014, three major Milwaukee academic institutions were undergoing transitions to new leadership. But out of a state of flux, UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and Milwaukee Public Schools began an alliance aimed at improving outcomes for students.

They created a network called M-cubed, with a mission of better aligning education so that students who start at MPS will have a smoother road leading to MATC, UWM, or both.

Low-income students tend to face more barriers to higher education than their middle- and upper-class peers. Federal financial aid is supposed to help clear the way.

But part of the financial aid process, called verification, ensnares many low-income students in a confusing web of red tape.

Jesendra Tatum is one example. After graduating from Milwaukee School of Languages in 2018, Tatum planned to start college right away. She always wanted to be a veterinarian.

Low-income students in Milwaukee are less likely to graduate from high school and go onto college than their wealthier counterparts. A new program launched this school year by the city of Milwaukee hopes to bridge that gap.

Sixty percent of college graduates are women. But they’re not pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at the same rate as men. Women represent only 35 percent of undergraduate STEM degree-holders in the U.S. — Milwaukee’s Alverno College is trying to chip away at that imbalance.

Wisconsin’s higher education system is going through a quiet but major change. Beginning this school year, the state’s 13 two-year colleges are now branch campuses of four-year universities. The restructuring is an effort to keep the colleges’ doors open despite declining enrollment and revenue.

Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Northwestern Mutual are partnering to create the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, a $35-40 million initiative.

The collaboration aims to help Milwaukee to become "a national hub for technology, research, business, and talent development."

Northwestern Mutual will provide classroom space in its Cream City Labs, an new innovation lab that is currently under construction. The lab will be housed within the company's downtown Milwaukee campus.

Updated Thursday, Nov. 9: 
The UW Board of Regents approved a plan at its monthly meeting Thursday that would merge the systems two-year schools with its four-year campuses.  The Regents approved the proposal on a voice vote -- with Tony Evers and Janice Mueller dissenting.

The proposal, crafted by UW System president Ray Cross, will impact the UW Colleges, four-year institutions and the UW-Extension -- but not Wisconsin's Technical College System, which is a separate entity.

Original post: October 11, 2017