A declining college-age population and an increasingly skeptical view of the value of two- and four-year degrees continues to strain higher education institutions in southeastern Wisconsin.
Several higher education institutions in the area reported plateaued or decreasing enrollment over the past eight years, largely due to a smaller Generation Z population and a growing interest in skipping college for a more immediate and accessible career.
A select few schools reported an increase in enrollment with one shared initiative to which much of their growth can be attributed: a heavy commitment towards AI and specialized technology programming.
The Higher Education Regional Alliance, a collaborative group of 16 higher education institutions in southeastern Wisconsin, is spearheading a collaborative approach to combat declining enrollment.
Representatives from some of HERA’s participating institutions, including Milwaukee School of Engineering, Waukesha County Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, Alverno College and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, agree that a collaborative approach to overcoming the enrollment crisis trumps competing for students.
Declining enrollment
Many higher education institution leaders in the area are concerned about the “enrollment cliff,” a significant drop in the Gen Z population yielding fewer students than in years past. Several area institutions reported a decline in enrollment from 2018-2025 including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Alverno College.
“Simply put, we’re running out of teenagers,” said UW-Milwaukee chancellor Mark Mone.
Since 2018, UWM’s enrollment has declined by roughly 20%, including undergraduate and graduate students.
UWM’s enrollment struggles stem not only from a declining population, but also from increasing challenges surrounding international enrollment. New federal legislation restricting academic visas is causing issues for students coming from India, which supplies more international students to UWM than any other participating country. If the government continues restricting academic visas, UWM’s enrollment could be even more strained, Mone said.
Similar to UWM, Alverno College reported a steady decline in enrollment over the past eight years with an almost 30% drop since 2018. In June of 2024, Alverno’s administration partnered with a consultant to dissolve programs and cut costs as the future of the college became uncertain. As a result, Alverno decreased undergraduate majors by roughly 34% and graduate programs by roughly 23%.
Still in its repertoire were two of the most popular programs in the school – nursing and education – which currently enroll around 70% of the student body, according to Alverno president Christy Brown.
Shortly after cutting several programs, however, Alverno received a “transformational” $10 million gift in August 2024 from John and Tashia Morgridge, through their TOSA Foundation. So far, much of the donation has been earmarked for future projects, with a few small investments made to improve technological resources and instruction.
Steady enrollment with a strong defense
Other institutions like MIAD and Marquette University reported consistent enrollment, in spite of the nationwide enrollment dip during the COVID pandemic.
MIAD’s annual enrollment trends have been scattered in the past eight years with a roughly 10% overall increase since 2018.
MIAD has implemented several protective measures to help withstand the widespread enrollment challenges. Its exchange program with Concordia University and Marquette, allowing students to take select classes at partner institutions to supplement instruction within their major, along with a zero-deficit operating budget and a 90% retention rate from students transitioning from their freshman to sophomore years, has made MIAD well-equipped to navigate an era of declining enrollment, according to MIAD president Jeff Morin.
In addition to general enrollment struggles, Morin expressed concern about how a lack of state funding for the arts is putting “growing pressure on philanthropic giving to sustain all creative entities in the state of Wisconsin,” including MIAD student scholarships. He also noted a lack of financial aid grants from the State of Wisconsin for low-income students.
“On some level, I’m amazed that MIAD’s enrollment is stable,” Morin said. “Wisconsin may be forward, but we’re last in the line for public support (for arts funding).”
Marquette’s enrollment has been steady as well over the past eight years with a 5% overall decrease in enrollment since 2018. A plateaued enrollment at Marquette can be partly attributed to retention as well as its out-of-state initiatives, which include covering the cost of travel for students and parents from low-enrollment states to visit the campus.
2018 and 2024 marked two of Marquette’s highest enrollment years, while the past two school years have boasted the highest retention rates in university history, according to Brian Troyer, Marquette’s vice president of enrollment management.
To combat the impact of shifting demographics, Troyer is focused on creating a multi-year enrollment strategy, which includes the regulation of development for on-campus infrastructure and a heavy focus on retention.
Marquette currently enrolls just over 8,000 undergraduate students, the majority of which are from outside the state. Thirty-nine percent of Marquette students are from Illinois, 35% from Wisconsin, 4% from Minnesota, 3% from California, 2% from Michigan and 2% from Missouri. Roughly a dozen other states each make up 1% of the student body. Marquette’s next enrollment initiatives will be directed toward students in Arizona, Colorado and the state of Washington.
Increasing enrollment and shared initiatives
Two southeastern Wisconsin institutions reported increasing enrollment over the past eight years, contrary to an otherwise downward trend. Ushering in an era of AI learning at MSOE and WCTC has proven fruitful in gaining enrollment and expanding infrastructure to evolve with the technological needs of industry professionals in the region.
Working in tandem, MSOE and WCTC continuously workshop AI programming and build new infrastructure, which in turn has filled programs beyond capacity.
Rich Barnhouse, president of WCTC, says a commitment to innovation and a practical approach to instruction is helping to maintain WCTC’s enrollment growth.
“You’ve got to run the school like a business,” Barnhouse said. “We’ve decided that we’re the big dog and that we’ve got magnitude. When you’ve got resources and you’re really good at what you do, you deliver for people.”
To support its AI programming, WCTC opened its new Applied AI Lab in the fall of 2024 after launching a $6 million fundraising campaign in August to support its expansion.
WCTC’s AI programs, which started small with consultation from MSOE, which was offering instruction only at the graduate level, soon filled up and required more sections to accommodate high interest and enrollment. The AI certificate, which was originally a 23-credit program, became a 60-credit, two-year associate degree.
MSOE reported similar growth, which can also be largely attributed to its AI and technology offerings. The evolution of MSOE’s growth has been ongoing since the 2019 opening of Diercks Hall, a computational science hall home to MSOE’s supercomputer Rosie. Since then, MSOE has launched an AI for emerging applications undergraduate certificate, offered through HERA, and a graduate certificate in advanced business strategy using AI and analytics. Additionally, MSOE has also established the PieperPower endowed chair in AI – currently held by Jeremy Kedziora, Ph.D. – and started an AI club, all of which are contributing to the school’s record high enrollment for the 2024-‘25 school year.
HERA’s involvement
HERA’s mission is three-fold: ensuring students complete schooling on time with appropriate skills for their career; innovating, aligning, evolving and accelerating programs and degrees in the region; and increasing connections between students and employers throughout the talent pipeline, according to HERA’s website.
While the fears of declining enrollment loom, many higher education leaders involved in HERA remain optimistic about the future of higher education in the region.
“I feel like we all have the same goal at HERA which is to create an educated and employed workforce and community in southeastern Wisconsin,” said Brown. “That makes me hopeful for the future of Alverno.”
“The status of higher education in southeastern Wisconsin is pretty strong,” said Barnhouse. “Citizens in this area have access to really any type of education they want without having to leave the area.”
