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Category: Higher Education/System

Six-week waits, 1 counselor for 8 rural districts: These are some of the hurdles facing youth mental health

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Universities across the state are beginning the process of embedding their school psychology graduate students into local public schools. That’s the case for UW-Madison, which is using a new $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to recruit and train 24 new school psychology graduate students, with an emphasis on students of color, into Madison’s public schools over the course of five years.

The myth of ‘woke’ indoctrination of students

Posted on
The Hill

Other studies yield similar results. At the University of Wisconsin system, “students reported substantially more frequent encouragement than discouragement of exploring a variety of viewpoints.” While a little over one third indicated they ever felt pressure “by an instructor to agree with a specific view,” only one third in that cohort said they felt such pressure often.”

As the UW System Raises Tuition for the First Time in a Decade–Some Students Worry They Won’t Be Able to Afford It

Posted on
Up North News

The UW System Board of Regents voted last week to raise tuition prices by an average of 4.9% (or $404) across all 13 universities and 26 campuses in Wisconsin. Room and board rates will increase too, by an average of 3.5%, resulting in an overall 4.2% (or $706) increase for all in-state students.

GOP-led hearing questions whether liberal bias on UW System campuses hurts quality of education

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Republican state lawmakers questioning whether a lack of political diversity on college campuses is hurting education discussed possible fixes — like considering political affiliation when hiring professors — during a legislative hearing Thursday. The meeting follows a University of Wisconsin System student free speech survey that found a majority of conservative respondents reported self-censoring views in class.

GOP lawmakers begin review of free speech on UW campuses

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Thursday’s hearing was the first formal legislative discussion since the results of the UW System’s controversial free speech survey were released earlier this year. The survey focused on how much students self-censor or decline to share opinions in class. Republicans often accuse colleges of suppressing conservative views in classrooms and in who is invited to speak on campus.

Closing campus is broken promise — Dorothy Thompson

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Letter to the editor: How much will be saved in the System budget by closing the UW-Platteville Richland campus? How much will be lost to Richland County and the region? What is lost economically and socially if would-be-first-generation college students from rural areas and small towns opt out of higher education altogether?

State audit highlights deficiencies in Wisconsin’s use of some federal COVID relief funds

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Wisconsin State Journal

In one case, UW-Platteville used about $23,500 in federal funds to create online tours to provide an alternative way for prospective students to view the campus during the pandemic. However, the bureau found the tour content to be “predominately marketing because it included encouragement for viewers to enroll at UW-Platteville.”

UW campuses will raise residential tuition for first time in 10 years

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

In-state undergraduate students in the University of Wisconsin System will see the first tuition hike since Republican state lawmakers instituted a tuition freeze a decade ago.

The UW System Board of Regents on Thursday approved the tuition hike with 16 members voting in favor and one voting against. Regents Héctor Colón and Jennifer Staton were not present. The average increase of 5 percent comes as a GOP bill aims to limit the board’s tuition setting authority once again.

UW Regents increase in-state tuition for first time in a decade. Here’s what you need to know.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The board overseeing Wisconsin’s public university system voted Thursday to increase tuition for in-state undergraduates.

It’s the first rate increase since 2012, a move craved by University of Wisconsin System campuses that have operated under financial strain for years and opposed by students who already take out tens of thousands of dollars to earn their degrees.

‘Science of reading,’ whole language,’ ‘balanced literacy’: How can Wisconsin resolve its ‘reading wars’ and teach kids to read?

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Quoted: On the other side of the debate is Mark Seidenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the leading scientists cited by advocates for the science of reading. Seidenberg said there is a large volume of research that sheds light on how children learn to read and that supports the science of reading approach.

Can using such approaches raise the overall success of kids in becoming readers? “I think it’s huge,” Seidenberg said in an interview.

UW System in-state undergraduates will see first tuition increase in a decade

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

The UW Board of Regents on Thursday approved a 4.5% in-state tuition base increase. Proposed by System President Jay Rothman to lawmakers earlier this month, tuition for in-state undergraduates will increase by $372 at UW-Madison, $364 at UW-Milwaukee, $283 at other System four-year schools and about $214 at most branch campuses.

Republican lawmakers to hold hearings on what they call lack of ‘intellectual diversity’ at UW campuses

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Wisconsin Public Radio

A Republican legislator who has accused colleges of “indoctrinating students” will hold hearings next month on whether a lack of what he calls “intellectual diversity” at UW System campuses is hurting the quality of education. The push follows a campus free speech survey that found some conservative students reported self-censoring views in class.

College Admissions Trends For 2023

Posted on
Forbes

Noted: Students should also be prepared for the possibility of deferment, especially at early action colleges, as some schools are experiencing record application volume and are deferring a larger number of students than usual. For example, University of Wisconsin-Madison deferred 17,000 of its 45,000 early action applicants, while Clemson University delivered deferment messages to 15,000 of its 26,000 early applicants.

What would happen if everyone just stopped paying their student debt?

Posted on
MarketPlace

Quoted: Nick Hillman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education, said he thinks Biden’s forgiveness program would be a net positive.

“Our student loan repayment system has been shut off for three years and it’s already a pretty rusty machine in the first place,” Hillman said.

Once we resume those payments, it’ll leave many people worse off, he explained.

“So cancellation would help in that transition period,” he added.

Mom and son celebrate matching residency programs together: ‘Still incredible to me’

Posted on
Good Morning America

Noted: Cao, 54, a research scientist at the University of Kansas, graduated from medical school in China and practiced internal medicine for a decade before immigrating to the U.S. with her family in 2006. Meanwhile, Liu, 26, is a current student at the Medical College of Wisconsin and is expected to graduate this May.

Last week, Cao learned she would be headed to the clinical pathology residency program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while Liu learned he had matched with the radiation oncology residency program at the University of Pennsylvania in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Student-athletes aren’t immune from suicide risk. Colleges are taking notice.

Posted on
Kaiser Health News

Noted: Before cross-country runner Sarah Shulze, 21, died by suicide at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in April 2022, the athletics department was expanding its professional mental health support from two staffers to six to help the school’s approximately 800 student-athletes, said David Lacocque, the department’s director of mental health and sport psychology. The department, known until eight months ago as “clinical & sport psychology,” changed its name in part because student-athletes were asking for mental health support.

In addition to scheduled appointments, the sports liaisons attend practices, team meetings, training sessions, and competitions to help normalize mental health concerns.

“Gone are the days when we sit in our office and wait for people to knock on the door and talk to us,” Lacocque said.

Republicans reject Gov. Tony Evers’ $3.8 billion plan for building projects, but it’s not over yet. Here’s what happens next.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Noted: Nearly half of the money in Evers’ plan would be spent on University of Wisconsin System campuses. The $1.8 billion would help fund a new engineering building at UW-Madison, expansion and renovation of two dorms at UW-Oshkosh and completion of a science center at UW-La Crosse.

Here’s what to know about UW promise programs for low-income students

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The UW System is funding the first year of the Wisconsin Tuition Promise program, which launches next fall and provides full tuition coverage for new, in-state freshmen and transfer students whose families earn $62,000 or less. The program is open to students attending any UW campus except UW-Madison, which already offers its own tuition promise program that isn’t funded with taxpayer money.

As UW System ends classes at Richland Center, other communities wonder if their 2-year campus is next

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

County boards overseeing some two-year University of Wisconsin schools are delaying maintenance and upgrades until they get commitments that the university system won’t close those campuses.

The uncertainty around local campuses comes three months after the UW System announced it would stop offering classes at UW-Platteville Richland. It’s the first time the UW System has planned for instruction to cease at a campus in more than four decades.

130-year-old farm training program getting new life at UW-River Falls

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

A 130-year-old program created to connect Wisconsin farmers with university research is getting a second chance at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

UW-Madison announced last year that the Farm and Industry Short Course would move from a 16-week, on-campus certificate program to a non-credit format that would use online learning. Officials said the change was due to a significant decline in enrollment, with less than 100 students each year over the last decade. With only 20 students projected to enroll in the program for 2022, officials said it no longer had enough students to run the self-funded program.