Enrollment rates for the UW System are at a record high, according to a statement released Wednesday, though more students may pose new financial and institutional challenges.
According to a statement from the UW System, 173,313 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for the fall 2007 semester, a 2 percent increase from fall 2006.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the UW System has made it a priority to productively and efficiently"" manage its resources to accommodate more students.
""We spend a significant amount less on administration and overhead costs and direct more spending toward institutional and student support,"" Giroux said. ""A lot of public institutions struggle with funding, and not all have seen the gains in enrollment that we have been able to achieve.""
Clinton Conrad, a UW-Madison professor of higher education and educational leadership, said high enrollment could pressure the UW System to hire more part-time and untenured faculty, which might strain the UW System's financial resources.
He said more enrollments could mean larger class sizes in some lectures and a demand for more professors to teach at multiple universities as a way to lower costs.
""[The UW System] may have to hire faculty who are teaching at three or four different institutions, which will force them to spend a good part of their time traveling at the expense of investing in student learning,"" Conrad said.
Conrad said the new state budget does not keep up with the UW System's costs and that severe cuts may result in the future.
Giroux said this year's larger enrollment might be a result of transfer students from technical colleges and non-UW schools, as well as continuing students who enroll the following year to finish their degree.
According to Giroux, this is UW-Madison's third consecutive year of sustained enrollment growth.
UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison have seen the highest and second highest gains in enrollment, respectively, Giroux said.
Veterans may be one source of increased enrollment, according to Giroux, and they might also affect some aspects of the UW System financially.
""Enrolling more veterans is a good thing, but [the UW System] spends a great deal of resources to support their tuition remission,"" Giroux said.
