Monday, July 24, 2006

Every year, it's harder to get into UW-Madison

The Journal-Sentinel ran a nice lengthy piece on the annual dogfight for admissions to UW-Madison. It highlights the fact that year after year, the average UW enrollee is smarter (good!), but that tuition keeps going up (bad!). It's tougher for in-state applicants to get in (bad!) because more out-of-state applicants are being accepted, largely because they pay triple the tuition (good!) Plus, the article gives a spicy and satisfying rehash of the fact that UW-Milwaukee was set up as a second-class university. Brad Vogel was crucified this spring for pointing out this truth, both in the Herald and on his blog. So, it's nice to see the big ol' Milwaukee paper bringing this to light.

Of special interest to the large number of University of Michigan bloggers who read (or at least have linked to) this site is this passage:
The UW System administration saw UW-Milwaukee, with its doctoral status, large size and urban setting, as a place to address the needs of students rejected by UW-Madison. It envisioned turning UW-Milwaukee into a Wisconsin version of Michigan State University or the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Feeding time, gentlemen!

5 comments:

Nicole said...

I love how people act like this is a surprise. Any kid who went to high school in state in the past 10 years could have told you this and it baffles me that it's taken adults so long to catch on.

I know that they act like this is a big deal, but basically it's entirely a monetary decision. And it's two fold. Not only do out of staters pay considerably more, but in staters are completely unwilling to have tuition raised.

UW's tuition is extremely low for a university of it's reputation and prowess. UW student's pay about 1/6th of what I paid per year to attend school out of state.

Basically, we want our cake and we want to eat it too. They want it to be a top tier institution, but they aren't willing to pay.

And finally, I wouldn't have gone there if they would have given me a free ride. It's not that I have a problem with the institution itself, but a large large percentage of my graduating class went there. It's the same every year. Hell, I didn't go to the damn school and I can't go to Madison EVER without running into people I went to school with. And that's not my idea of "going away to college".

King Dan said...

I like that last part. Some times the truth hurts. Other times the truth means you should have worked harder in high school.

Brian said...

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

Brad V said...

Like the post. Thanks.

Unknown said...

They should do someting about it.
Because it doesn't look good that they don't let enter people. per head service people haven't had that kind of problem.