Soldner said for the actual number of students enrolled, there is an increase of 17 in 3K special programming, 58 fewer students in 4K, 14 more in kindergarten and 48 more in grades 1-12. He said staff will work with the district’s data and research team and outside consultants at the UW Applied Population Lab, which does population projections, to better understand how this affects the overall trend.
October 10, 2023
Research
Higher Education/System
UW System faces tough decisions amid declining enrollment
Enrollment decline is affecting four-year colleges across the country.
Fortunately for the University of Wisconsin System, there is good news for the first time since 2014. To begin fall semester, estimated enrollment is up by 540 students systemwide.
20% of female college students can’t afford period products, new survey shows
The survey included respondents from five schools: Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Harvard University, New York University, and University of Central Florida. A majority (58%) reported working or receiving grants to help cover the cost of living during school. Fourteen percent of respondents reported both receiving financial aid and experiencing period poverty.
Campus life
UW Indigenous groups hold powwow for Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Night of celebration hosted on-campus by Wunk Sheek, Indigenous Student Center.
Fill the Hill fundraiser breaks donation records in 2023
More than 2,000 donors raise over half a million dollars for UW colleges, scholarships.
State news
After questions about use of state funds, budget for Wisconsin Fast Forward workforce development program cut by 16%
Steven Deller studies public finance and economic development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Although he doesn’t have direct knowledge of Fast Forward, he said there are “hundreds if not thousands” of federal and state-level grants that are not fully taken advantage of.
There are two main reasons, he said: a lack of awareness and cumbersome application materials. The need to ensure government money is being spent properly creates a lot of paperwork.
“If the agency is perceived as being ‘sloppy’ handing the grants out, there is a huge political price to pay,” Deller wrote via email.
Community
‘Like a warm hug’: Beloved Shorewood librarian Heide Piehler retiring after 40 years
As an English major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she spent her first fieldwork internship at the Shorewood Library in 1982, where she’s worked ever since.
Health
New drug offers hope for UW Health patient with rare, inherited ALS
Dr. Collin Kreple, a UW Health neurologist who delivered Francis’ tofersen injection in September, said it may take longer than the short period of the drug’s clinical trial to reveal its clinical effectiveness. Another study has started in people with SOD1 mutations who don’t have symptoms yet.
Athletics
Wisconsin volleyball’s 2 most celebrated players aim to be program’s first Olympians
Lauren Carlini, 28, was one of two former Badgers standouts on the court when the USA clinched that berth, joined by middle blocker Dana Rettke.
The two most celebrated players in program history are in position to become the first Wisconsin alums to make an Olympic volleyball roster.
Opinion
Opinion | Jim Jordan is proof that UW can graduate right-wing zealots
Conservatives have been claiming for decades that the University of Wisconsin-Madison is brainwashing young people to make them liberals. The problem with that claim is that some of the most right-wing figures in American politics are UW grads.