Students who would have been routinely admitted to UW System schools 10 years ago are now having to explore other options as more UW System schools are becoming increasingly selective in their undergraduate admissions policies.
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Interim Executive Director of Admissions Kristina Anderson said the effects of rising competition can even be felt within families.
\I've had several conversations with parents saying, 'Well, my older daughter goes there and ... she's only three years older than our daughter that's a high school senior and my older daughter got in with a lesser profile,'"" Anderson said.
With the combination of recent cuts in the state's budget and the impacts of larger high school graduating classes, UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire are beginning to turn away some competitive students, Anderson said.
Anderson added in 1996, 47 of Eau Claire's 2,000 incoming freshmen had ACT scores above 30, but last year, that number raised to over 100.
Once word gets out that schools like UW-La Crosse and Eau Claire are becoming more selective, they could gain a more prestigious reputation, something that could help graduates in the employment process, UW-La Crosse Admissions Counselor Ken Koelbl said.
The country's current economic situation has also led to those schools with price tags lower than UW-Madison to become more attractive, Koelbl said.
While other schools in the UW System are gaining better applicants, UW-Madison should not see a decline in the quality of their applicants, Assistant Director of Admissions Thomas Reason said, adding that the applicant pool has only gotten stronger in recent years.
UW-Madison Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Paul Barrows said increasing selectivity at other UW schools should help the UW System as a whole by putting interest in the system at an all-time high.
The UW System has always been recognized as a strong system, but unfortunately they are not always able to educate everyone at their preferred location, Koelbl said.
""We've always had a formula that has a cap on enrollment, but when you have the budget cuts coming simultaneously with the baby boomer bubble of big graduating classes, that has really caught a lot of kids in the middle,"" Anderson said.
While standards at all institutions are becoming more demanding, administrators said they hope to accommodate as many qualified students as possible.
""Given that we've had major budget cuts and there continues to be growth in the number of students who want an education, I think it's still going to be competitive for awhile, but hopefully it will taper off, especially if we're granted additional money in the years ahead so that we can accommodate more students"" Barrows said.
