In a society that can be skeptical about the sun rising, it shouldn’t be surprising that public trust in higher education has wavered of late. A summer Gallup poll showed Americans are split into roughly equal thirds as to whether they have a lot (36%), some (32%), or very little (32%) confidence in higher education — down 12 points in the “a lot” category since 2018.
Top leaders from Wisconsin’s higher education community don’t dispute that’s likely the case, but they’re nonetheless adamant about the quality of their core products — educated people and workers — and eager to rebuild trust by demonstrating results.
“Trust is earned, not given,” said Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman during a Nov. 26 panel discussion in Madison, where he was joined by Wisconsin Technical College System President Layla Merrifield and Eric Fulcomer, president of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
College enrollment had increased nearly every year since 1951 in the United States with few exceptions, but that began to change after the 2008 recession — especially with male students. Despite population growth, 1.1 million fewer men are pursuing college degrees today than the peak year of 2010. That is despite evidence that people who earn a college degree generally earn more out of the box and especially over a lifetime.
While conceding improvements can always be made, Rothman, Merrifield, and Fulcomer said they believe their respective institutions are producing graduates who have the skills to help themselves as well as the Wisconsin economy.
“If we aren’t delivering a program that leads directly to employment following graduation, then we have a real problem,” said Merrifield, who oversees 16 districts and 52 campuses serving 287,000 students in Wisconsin. “Either [the] program needs to go away or needs to be reconfigured or needs to be re-imagined to be something that’s relevant for the employers.”
Fulcomer noted that WAICU’s 22 member colleges and universities in Wisconsin aren’t just a collection of ivy-covered liberal arts campuses, but places that produce large numbers of doctors, nurses, physician assistants, engineers, architects, and dentists along with people who hold other workforce-ready degrees. With 51,000 students in total, Wisconsin’s private colleges produce graduates who stay in Wisconsin and who work for major employers.
Another misconception is that Wisconsin’s private colleges aren’t affordable, Fulcomer said, adding that WAICU schools offer scholarships and other financial aid that can bring costs down sharply for 95% of students.
The Universities of Wisconsin is a big target, with about 161,000 students spread among its four-year and two-year campuses. Like the technical college system, the UW relies on public support for part of its mission — but Rothman argues such support has failed to grow over time to the detriment of the state’s competitive economy.
He often points to a ranking from the State Higher Education Officers Association, which places Wisconsin 43rd among the 50 states in support from state and tuition dollars among four-year institutions. Every neighboring state fares better in that survey, Rothman noted, pointing to Illinois (1st), Michigan (3rd), Iowa (9th), and Minnesota (10th).
To keep Wisconsin competitive, Rothman argues, state government should put Wisconsin on a path to the midpoint of 50-state higher education support. He and the UW Board of Regents have asked for an increase of $855 million in state support over two years; the current two-year budget is $13.74 billion.
“This is not an expenditure; this is an investment in future generations of Wisconsinites,” Rothman said, adding it falls to UW to explain why the increase is needed and where it will be spent. “We’ve got to make our case. That’s on us.”
One argument that may help is the ability of UW–Madison to bring in money for its research engines, much of it private and industry-led. The National Science Foundation recently reported the campus moved up two notches — from eighth to sixth out of 920 U.S. universities — in total spending on research.
“That moves the needle,” Rothman said. “That changes our state.”
Public trust in U.S. higher education won’t return overnight, in part due to perceptions of excessive “wokeness” of some campuses and cost concerns on others. That reality hasn’t escaped notice of Wisconsin’s higher education leaders — and they’re working to change it.
