UW-Oshkosh closing Fox Cities campus in spring 2025, blaming declining enrollment

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Fox Cities will shutter at the end of next school year, marking the sixth UW campus to close because of budget problems and declining enrollment.

UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt called the closure a "difficult but responsible decision." He said the problems facing the campus were "not of our own making," but reflective of the headwinds facing higher education.

Enrollment at the Fox Cities campus has plummeted from 1,629 in 2018 to 555 last fall, a 65% drop in just five years, according to UW System data. A UW-Oshkosh anaylsis projected fewer than 100 students enrolled at the campus by 2032.

“That’s simply not financially sustainable for us," UW-Oshkosh Provost Ed Martini told reporters Thursday.

UW-Platteville Richland, UW-Milwaukee at Washington County, UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac and UW-Green Bay Marinette closed this school year. UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha will close at the end of 2024-25.

Leavitt rejected the idea that the Fox Cities campus closure will limit future students' access to higher education. He said there are 11 public and private and technical college sites within 50 miles of the Fox Cities.

Marc Sackman, who has taught music on the campus for 19 years, feels differently. The experience at a technical college focuses on preparing students for the workforce instead of transferring to a four-year university, he said. Branch campuses employ faculty with terminal degrees and offer fine arts programs.

"No one really understood what we did," Sackman said. "We were always underfunded. As soon as the merger was announced, we knew it would be the end of us."

UW branch campuses struggled for more than a decade

The UW System is made up of 13 four-year universities. It also had the UW Colleges, which were 13 additional campuses offering associate degrees that were a popular starting point for students in rural areas, from low-income backgrounds or those wanting to start college in a smaller campus setting.

But these campuses, often called "two-years" or "branch campuses," have been in a precarious position for a while. Tuition was frozen for 15 years. A state budget cut in 2015 led to a gutting of staff and a "regionalization" strategy that put one dean in charge of multiple campuses.

The UW System in 2018 dissolved UW Colleges and placed each campus under the oversight of a four-year university. UW Fox Cities became UW-Oshkosh at Fox Cities. The Fond du Lac campus, which closed this spring, was also under the oversight of UW-Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh has had its own share of financial problems. The university reported a projected $18 million deficit for the 2023-24 school year among its three campuses. In response, UW-Oshkosh laid off 140 employees, lost another 76 through retirements and closed 35 unfilled positions.

Even with the substantial cuts, UW-Oshkosh still faces a $7.6 million deficit this year. It cannot use its unrestricted reserves, which is discretionary money that can be used to plug budget holes, because it has fully depleted the fund. It's the first time in UW System history that a university has exhausted its reserves.

The UW System is stepping in with a loan it expects to be paid back with interest.

Leavitt said the Fox Cities closure is "driven completely" by enrollment decline and not related to the university's broader financial problems.

The Fox Cities campus closure creates uncertainty for the 80 employees working there. Leavitt said the 16 tenured faculty will be transferred to the main campus. Some of the campus' 64 staff may also receive an opportunity to transfer if a financial analysis determines their position is needed.

Outagamie County executive blasts UW's lack of transparency

Outagamie County and Winnebago County jointly own the campus buildings.

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, a Democrat who campaigned for U.S. Senate and other positions, criticized Leavitt and UW System President Jay Rothman for their handling of the closure and "sitting" on the news since April. The university analysis recommending closure is dated April 30. He said his questions and public records request have gone unanswered.

"Let down, disappointed, frustrated — all the above," he said in reaction to the news announced Thursday. "You invest a lot of time, a lot of money into that facility, and this is wrong. It is especially wrong how they have handled this. I mean, it's just been really, really, really poor leadership."

Leavitt rejected Nelson's criticisms, saying the university has communicated with Outagamie and Winnebago counties in recent years about the possibility of closure in recent years. He said UW-Oshkosh only received notice of Rothman approving the closure Monday afternoon.

“UW Oshkosh is working to ensure it has a bright future, which requires tough decisions now," Rothman said in his own statement responding to the criticism. "Unfortunately, the analysis is that the market and enrollment cannot sustain the Fox Cities Campus moving forward.”

UW System fulfilled Nelsons' May 21 records request Thursday, spokesperson Ethan Schuh said.

Level of UW funding also blamed

Nelson also blamed the Republican-controlled Legislature for the string of campus closures.

"We are in this situation because the (UW) System has been underfunded for the last quarter century," Nelson said.

State Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, and Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, whose districts include the campus, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The closest transfer options for students include UW-Oshkosh, a half-hour drive away, or UW-Green Bay. They could also enroll at Fox Valley Technical College, which has an Appleton campus just 10 minutes from the UW-Fox Cities campus.

Like other technical colleges, Fox Valley receives local property taxes in addition to tuition revenue and state funding. The state Technical College System is one of the best-funded in the country, according to a report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum last year.

Meanwhile, the UW System ranked in the bottom 10 states for per-pupil funding.

This story may be updated.

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.comor 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh closing UW-Fox Cities campus