Wisconsin needs more residents with bachelor’s degrees to be competitive in the knowledge economy, but a turf battle could be looming as to the roles the UW’s two-year colleges, four-year universities and the Wisconsin Technical College System will play in meeting that need.
The largely internal debate has been brewing for some time, but this week is significant on two fronts. The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will vote on policies that technical colleges say unfairly restrict their ability to add pre-professional and liberal arts transfer programs. And today, David Wilson, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin’s two-year colleges and extension programs, was scheduled to make a public push for broadened programs that could include offering four-year liberal arts degrees.