The UW System will put into effect a new system called “Direct Admissions” to keep seniors in Wisconsin high schools coming to UW colleges.
Direct Admissions will begin in July 2024, as “rising senior high school students will be matched with UW universities based on predetermined admissions criteria,” according to the UW System.
Prospective students will be sent letters in the mail providing the schools they can attend for fall 2025. Ten out of 13 UW schools have opted into the program.
All universities but UW-Madison have seen an overall 3% increase in first-year enrollment. This is the first time enrollment has increased since 2014. “The estimates show an enrollment of 161,322 for fall 2023, an increase of 540 over fall 2022,” the UW System reported.
Along with the UW System trying to increase enrollment rates, other schools across the nation have been trying similar approaches to get enrollment up.
Universities, like the UW System, are trying to guarantee admission. “Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, recently announced a guaranteed admission program for first-year freshman applicants who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class,” CNBC stated.
According to Best Colleges, since 2011, there has been a 1.6% decrease in admissions every year until 2021 when it declined by 14.6% due to COVID-19. One reason to explain this decrease is the rise in tuition across the nation.
The UW System had an increase in tuition for fall 2023, which had not been changed since 2012. At all UW schools, the tuition rose by 4.5% and at UW-Platteville, the out-of-state tuition rose by 2%.
Despite this setback with tuition increases, the UW System hopes to keep enrollment up.
“We hope that Direct Admissions will not only grow enrollment but also streamline the admission process and help expand the number of Wisconsin residents with a UW degree,” Jay Rothman, President of the UW System, said in a press release.
