The universities’ enrollment numbers have declined nearly 70% over the past 13 years. UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Thomas Gibson said in a profitability report to University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman this spring that other revenue strategies, such as renting space to community groups and other UW System organizations, will not prevent the two universities from losing hundreds of thousands of dollars combined annually.

The Marshfield and Wausau locations were expected to have $1.59 million in debt at the end of 2024. Marshfield is expected to have an additional $190,000 debt deficit in 2025, and Wausau alone will have a deficit of nearly $1 million.

According to the report, UW-Stevens Point uses only a quarter of the space available at its branches, only a handful of classrooms are used more than half the day, and most are empty two-thirds or more of the day.

“The modest amount of space needed to provide academic and sustainable community programs does not justify the creation of entire campuses, or perhaps even portions of existing campuses,” Gibson’s report to Rothman states. “Strategies to generate revenue for existing spaces will not be sufficient to cover the budget deficit without a significant increase in enrollment numbers.”

The UW system has been closing branches at a rapid pace since November 2022. Three locations have announced their intention to close this year alone, and two more last fall. By summer 2025, only half of the original 14 locations are expected to be in operation.

In April 2023, Rothman gave all UW System chancellors who oversee branch campuses one year to submit reports to him on the financial viability of the campuses. The order came after the first closure of the Richland Center campus, which had only 60 students enrolled at the time of the announcement in November 2022.

The Wisconsin State Journal obtained copies of the feasibility reports through a records request.

UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt’s feasibility report, submitted on May 16, 2024, recommended that the UW System close the Fox Cities campus in the summer of 2025; the formal announcement of the closure came less than a month later. By the time UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone submitted his report, both of his campuses were also slated for closure.

Other chancellors made it clear that they want to keep their branches in Barron County, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Sauk County and Rock County, but said that would require changes to campus layout and lease agreements.

But Gibson’s report stresses that increasing enrollment is the only way out for Marshfield and Wausau, as student numbers have declined rapidly since their peak in fall 2010. That year, 2,121 students were enrolled at the two campuses then under the UW Colleges umbrella; last fall, 647 students were enrolled at the campuses now under the UW-Stevens Point umbrella.

According to data from Gibson’s report, the number of freshmen in both Marshfield and Wausau has declined steadily over the past two years.

For fall 2022, 129 new students applied to Marshfield and 168 new students applied to Wausau. At the end of April, when the report was submitted, Marshfield had 95 applications and 44 acceptances for fall 2024. Wausau had 124 applications and 51 acceptances.

Enrollment numbers could still increase: most branch students enroll during the summer months.

A marketing campaign for a degree completion program for non-traditional students will run in the Marshfield and Wausau regions through August. The success of the campaign will help determine the future of the campuses.

Market research suggests that while 5,700 people might be interested in the program, only 40% would send an inquiry and 10% of those people, or about 241 students, would enroll.

But even if this campaign were successful, it would not solve the enrollment problems on campus.

“This campaign is the litmus test to determine whether adult students from the region are interested in the full-time and graduate programs designed by the university,” Gibson’s report said.

Even at universities whose chancellors believe that there is a viable path towards sustainability ahead of them, the status quo will not remain.

While many remain optimistic about maintaining or increasing enrollment numbers, these campuses will have to make do with smaller footprints to remain stable, the chancellors said in their reports. Their universities must consider what space they will actually use and what can either be returned to the counties that own the land or what can be leased to third parties.

UW-Whitewater in Rock County is the only campus that is not looking to give up or renegotiate space. UW-Whitewater hopes to use the vacated space on campus to expand its health programs and offer radiology and sonography in partnership with Mercy Health.

At UW-Eau Claire in Barron County, the student center and food service there will close at the end of 2024, with the hope of leasing the space to a daycare center. Classrooms in the student center would then be moved to Ritzinger Hall, the main building on campus.

“After careful analysis, we have concluded that continuing food service in our student center is not financially viable,” Chancellor James Schmidt wrote in his report to Rothman. “Fewer students require meals when they are on campus, and the cafe has been losing money in recent years.”

For UW-Platteville in Baraboo Sauk County, the administration there wants to renegotiate the lease to give the county responsibility for building management and to allow the vacant space to be leased. Sauk County has already pledged $390,000 over the next two years to close the campus budget gaps.

And at the Sheboygan campus of the University of Washington, Green Bay, officials there would like to see either the district or a third party take over the gymnasium and theater buildings.