Enrollment down at UW campuses

GREEN BAY - New numbers show fewer students are heading to classes on UW-campuses.

The university says competition from private, and on-line universities is partly responsible.

Another reason is one some educators say they saw years ago.

On the Campus of UW-Green Bay, officials say they have been tracking the trend for five years.

"It's not unexpected, this is a trend we've been monitoring, for some time before it started, on through the first couple of steps of the demographic decline," said Michael Stearney, UW-Green Bay Dean of Enrollment Services.

The demographic decline refers to a drop in the state's birthrate 18 years ago.

"The decline in the number of traditional-age students obviously means smaller pool of students for us to recruit from," said Stearney.

The numbers show a 6% drop in enrollment at UW-River Falls this year. UW-Milwaukee saw a decrease of 2.4%

In Northeast Wisconsin, UW-Oshkosh saw a 63-student drop in enrollment. UW-Green Bay actually saw a small increase of 119 students on its campus.