University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin indicated during a Faculty Senate meeting Monday the university would walk back hiring and rethink grant-making if a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cut is implemented.
His high school grade point average (GPA) was an exceptional 4.42, much higher than the American average of 3.0, and he was one of only around 2,000 students to score 1590 or higher on the SAT, out of more than two million students who take the test every year.
Yet after sending off his applications, he was rejected by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin.
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and other campus leaders are evaluating different scenarios for how federal funding cuts and policy changes could affect the University of Wisconsin-Madison financially.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison advised its deans in a letter late last month that it should not eliminate commitments already made to students, but that it should consider decreasing the number of admissions offers and “carefully consider” whether to move down the wait list if a prospective student declines acceptance.
Under the radar, but also a critical threat to Social Security is the recent cancellation of Social Security research and evaluation contracts with six university-led research consortia, including College of New York (CUNY and The New School, Boston College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Michigan, the University of Maryland, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Those efforts have increased first-time undergraduate enrollment by an average of 50 to 100 students per participating campus in Idaho, with the strongest gains at community colleges, according to a 2022 study of the state program. Taylor Odle, assistant professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and co-author of the study, said the results show that states shouldn’t solely focus on high-achieving students when designing direct admissions programs.
“This behavioral nudge is going to be most effective for the people who didn’t know that college was an option for them, and those are most often students who fall further down the academic gradient,” Odle said.
In announcing the committee, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told the Cap Times he wanted to better tailor the work of government to a 21st century context.
“We need to deliver services in a different way than we have,” Vos said. “You know, how many (Universities of Wisconsin) campuses do we need? How many school districts do we need? How many townships do we need? All the things that we’ve never really thought about.”
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the provost and the dean of the graduate school sent a memo to college deans on February 23 advising them to “consider decreasing the number of admissions offers” and also to “carefully consider” whether to make any offers to candidates on their applicant wait lists should students who were initially accepted decline to enroll. While it was not an order to reduce graduate admissions, it was a clear suggestion to move cautiously as the university evaluated its available resources in light of continuing worries about federal funding.
UW-Madison deans should admit fewer graduate students, given the uncertainty of federal research funding going forward, leaders say.
But graduate school Dean William Karpus also this week reiterated his commitment to current grad students.
Essentially, the University of Wisconsin-Madison wants the authority to borrow money for construction projects that are funded by the university and don’t involve state tax dollars. Currently, that authority rests with the state.
A state appeals court ruled a Wisconsin college grant program restricted to certain students of color was unconstitutional and ordered the state to end administering the program.
On February 10, 22 of the states sued over cuts to the National Institutes of Health. It was filed in Massachusetts, but is filled with details on which programs at the University of Wisconsin are being the most impacted.
“Making sure that information is being included and considered as part of these cases is what I see as sort of a key role for us and for other states,“ said Wisconsin’s Attorney General Josh Kaul.
DOGE’s federal spending cuts could also jeopardize state programs ranging from cancer research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the upcoming tourism season at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
College leaders are scrambling to assess the ramifications Trump’s orders would have on their institutions and come up with a long-term strategy to defend higher education, which has long been a political punching bag for Republicans. They are trying to respond in a way that appeases students and professors, who tend to be progressive, without antagonizing the conservatives now in charge of the federal government.
“The chancellor is trying to thread a very, very narrow needle,” said Michael Bernard-Donals, a UW-Madison professor of English and Jewish studies.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin emphasized the mission of the Wisconsin Idea and the value of higher education during the Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Conference Tuesday.
School districts across the country are struggling to hire and retain enough special education teachers to meet the growing need for them. A new partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is working to bridge the gap.
An announcement from the National Institutes of Health earlier this month said the agency would slash support for indirect research costs paid to universities, medical centers and other grant recipients.
The change could leave research institutions like the University of Wisconsin-Madison scrambling for millions of dollars from other sources to support labs, students and staff.
“This is clearly a loophole which is now used to stall the reviews,” said Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, vice chancellor for research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The impact of the postponement won’t be felt immediately, she said. But if the meetings can’t continue, it will have an impact in coming months.
“At the minimum, a delay. At the most extreme case, maybe funding won’t happen,” Grejner-Brzezinska said. “At the moment, we hope that it is just a delay. And are watching what’s going to happen next.”
After staving off closure last year following a multimillion dollar budget shortfall and seriously declining student enrollment, Ashland’s Northland College last week announced this semester will be its last.
West Virginia University made headlines in 2023 for axing a swath of tenured faculty, followed by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Western Illinois University.
A major cut in federal funding for medical research, announced by the Trump administration this month, would harm efforts at UW-Madison to better treat cancer, diabetes and heart disease, university officials said.
UW-Madison is balking at a key lawmaker’s claim that the university has broken its promise to establish an endowed professorship focusing on conservative politics or thought.
The federal education department abruptly ended a University of Wisconsin-Madison grant that pays for students to train as special education teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools classrooms.
Jay Rothman interview with WISC-TV on the state budget bill introduced this week by Gov. Evers.
Donald Downs is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin. He co-founded the Academic Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that defends the rights of professors to speak, teach and publish without interference. He said courts aren’t the right place to settle grade disputes.
“These are matters of academic freedom and it’s usually best leave it up to the professors, because they’re the ones who know the subject,” Downs said. “If you take it out of their hands, then who’s going to do it? Our position is a strong presumption in favor of the faculty members’ academic right to have discretion over grades.”
The closure of Northland College at the end of this school year has left hundreds of students and employees with questions about what their futures may hold.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison — the sixth largest research university in the country — this cap would translate into an annual loss of approximately $65 million in research funding. The nationwide impact is even more staggering, amounting to billions of dollars in cuts for institutions that rely on NIH grants to support their research infrastructure. The hardest hit area would be indirect costs, or Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs, funds that cover essential expenses like laboratory equipment, research facilities and staff salaries.
Financially troubled Northland College will close at the end of the school year.
The college Board of Trustees announced the closing Wednesday. The small liberal arts college in Ashland has been facing a possible shut-down since early 2024. Last March, school leaders said they would need to raise millions of dollars to stay open.
Additionally, the district’s M-Cubed program is helping high school students start teaching degrees. A new partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison pays prospective special education teachers.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the nation’s top research institutions, are wary of potential cuts to funding under the Trump administration that they warn could slow their work and delay new treatments for cancer and other diseases.
Written by Xueli Wang, the Barbara and Glenn Thompson Endowed Professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With a focus on community colleges and postsecondary STEM education, her research examines educational practices, structures and policies that promote students’ holistic well-being and equitable access, experiences and outcomes.
The future of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s diversity-based scholarships are in doubt after a U.S. Department of Education decision Friday ordered schools to eliminate race-based programs.
Northland College, a private, liberal arts college in Ashland, just miles from Lake Superior, is closing its doors at the end of the school year, its board of trustees announced Wednesday.
With district officials poised to reject the proposal, McKenzie is pursuing a charter agreement with the UW Office of Educational Opportunity. UW will make its decision by May.
For many University of Wisconsin-Madison students, the beginning of September is a time to reacclimate themselves to Madison before classes start and take advantage of the remainder of summer to enjoy campus. But some say the first day of classes, usually the middle of the week after Labor Day, arrives too late.
The governor’s budget proposal would increase K-12 spending by a substantial $3.15 billion, in addition to more than $850 million for the Universities of Wisconsin System. A child care subsidy, previously subsidized by the federal government, would be paid for by $480 million in state funds under Evers’ plan.
For higher education, Evers proposed $856 million for the University of Wisconsin System, in line with the agency’s request. That includes an about $40 million scholarship program to benefit around 5,000 students whose families have an income less than the state median.
Evers proposed $856 million in new operational funding for the UW system, more than the $800 million he pledged to the UW Board of Regents last August. His proposed budget also includes $60 million in new state aid for Wisconsin’s technical college system, $10 million of which is meant to support the 16 two-year colleges in investing in artificial intelligence.
UW-Madison and its fellow Universities of Wisconsin schools are reviewing the guidance, spokespeople said in statements to the Wisconsin State Journal. UW system spokesperson Mark Pitsch said they expect there will be further guidance from the Department of Education.
On Tuesday, Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman announced UW-Whitewater’s provost and former interim chancellor John Chenoweth would lead UW-River Falls on a temporary basis starting March 1. Chenoweth will replace Michael Martin, who took on the position in an interim status in September following the retirement of Chancellor Maria Gallo.
In June, the governor said he wanted to see an additional $856 million go to the Universities of Wisconsin. Evers said the next state spending plan is a “make-or-break budget for our UW campuses.”
Evers will ask the Legislature to approve an additional $856 million in funding for the University of Wisconsin System, the largest two-year increase in history.
The University of Wisconsin System has temporarily paused the release of an updated copyright policy that would broaden the amount of intellectual property the university can claim from academic staff after faculty criticism.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison became interested in this topic because they wanted to understand a puzzling contradiction. On one hand, many people express support for diversity and inclusion. On the other hand, discrimination and exclusion remain persistent problems in society. The researchers wondered if part of the problem might stem from inaccurate perceptions of what others believe.
The study, “Diversity and inclusion have greater support than most Americans think,” was authored by Naomi Isenberg and Markus Brauer.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents unanimously approved a compromise policy change Feb. 7 giving UW System President Jay Rothman more power to appoint top leaders while retaining some regent involvement.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden discusses impacts of a Trump administration action to shift National Institutes of Health rules for research funds.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a key partner for USAID’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab, helping train agricultural researchers around the world and research new seeds. In the past decade, Feed the Future has reduced hunger and poverty by 20 to 25 percent in targeted areas, with over 6 million producers newly using better agricultural practices in 2023 alone.
Of course, these innovations not only support communities abroad, but can also be put to use right in UW-Madison’s backyard to make farmers more resilient to increasing hazards such as heatwaves and extreme precipitation.
A group of students who work on campus at Beloit College are encouraging their classmates and coworkers to sign on to a union effort. Administrators are hoping to channel the effort into a learning opportunity and expressing caution about changes to pay.
“We really rely on NIH funding,” Jon Audhya, a professor and associate dean at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said. “That reduction would have a huge negative impact on the institution. The university really couldn’t fill the gap.”
American universities are spending far too much on consulting firms. Recent investigations reveal staggering numbers: $51 million at the University of Wisconsin, $4.7 million at the University of Florida, and similar seven- and eight-figure contracts across the nation.
Andrew Reschovsky, a professor emeritus of public affairs at UW-Madison, said sometimes it makes sense for a state agency to contract out services when it doesn’t have the staff or knowledge for the work. Without the outcome of cost-benefit analyses or other information, it is impossible to know when contracting out makes sense without querying each agency, he said.
“We really rely on NIH funding,” Jon Audhya, a professor and associate dean at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said. “That reduction would have a huge negative impact on the institution. The university really couldn’t fill the gap.”
University of Wisconsin System Chief Information Officer Steven Hopper said Workday’s implementation will be smooth and will create a foundation for growth.
On Monday, higher education groups joined an association of public universities with schools in states that supported Trump in last year’s election to file their own legal challenge that described $65 million in losses for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a 70 percent reduction in funding for the University of Florida.
These up-front losses generate much greater future value of nonmonetary as well as monetary kinds. Look at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harvard University, et al. in Table 22 above. The sector spent nearly $28 billion of its own money generously subsidizing sponsors’ research, including by subsidizing the federal government itself.
Two Republicans who chair state legislative committees on energy and utilities say they want to bring more nuclear power online in Wisconsin in the coming years.
To start that effort, they introduced a resolution calling on the Legislature to publicly support nuclear power and fusion energy.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is selling its previous Campus Center for Equity and Diversity building following the state legislature’s DEI reconstruction decision.
The Office of Children’s Mental Health released new recommendations this week for students, parents and colleges to improve mental health and sense of belonging on campus.
