Bucking state trends, UW-Green Bay reports five consecutive years of enrollment growth

Significant growth in local students is good news for Northeast Wisconsin talent needs

GREEN BAY – Bucking trends in the state and, in some cases nationwide, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is celebrating five years of consecutive enrollment growth, including big gains in its own backyard, with 600 more Brown County students than last year choosing to stay close to home and study as a Phoenix.

The Green Bay Campus achieved its highest-ever headcount of 7,251 this fall, and a nine percent increase in the past five years. Now serving a large 16-county footprint with strategic programming, UW-Green Bay also achieved record growth across the entire region. Of those enrolled this term, 4,153 students, including 423 freshmen, are from a 16-county area. Student transfers increased seven percent while reentries and graduate enrollments are both up 16%.

“These trends are encouraging and show that local students of all ages are eager to invest in themselves and they want to do it in a place they love, namely Green Bay,” says Jen Jones, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Director of Admissions at UW-Green Bay. “With 86.4% of UW-Green Bay graduates staying in the state to build their careers, families and businesses, these trends are promising for our region and the state overall.” UW-Green Bay issued 1,215 Bachelor’s, and 127 Masters degrees in the 2017-2018 academic year.

According to Jones, over the last five years UW-Green Bay has added more than a dozen academic programs to meet the demand of local employers, including mechanical engineering, nursing, an MBA and emphases in health, sports and social media communications; expanded its Phuture Phoenix campus visit efforts; improved partnerships with technical colleges, high schools and the Green Bay Area Public School District; grown its dual enrollment program for high school students; launched Turbocharge with a promise that by 2023, every Green Bay Area Public School student will graduate with 15 college credits; expanded its Gateways to Phoenix Success (GPS) college freshman jumpstart program; launched College Draft Day at Lambeau Field and aggressively fundraised for scholarships.

“UW-Green Bay is a University on the rise,” said Chancellor Gary L. Miller. “Students of all backgrounds and situations are choosing UW-Green Bay because of the exemplary educational opportunities available. We are doing everything possible to make education accessible and affordable for students in this region.”

Jones notes that attending college locally pays in other ways, as well. UW-Green Bay’s annual undergraduate tuition, $7,878 per year is in the lower two-thirds among state institutions and according to a recent UW System report, UW-Green Bay graduates leave college with the lowest debt ratio among all 13 universities in the state.

Now a Four Campus University

The UW System restructuring in the summer of 2018 added the Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan campuses to UW-Green Bay, bringing 1,192 additional students, and raising the total Fall 2018 enrollment to 8,443.

Snapshot: Overall Student Enrollment Green Bay Campus

6,830 undergraduates
421 graduate students
21 doctoral students
2,164 are from Brown County, representing 600 more local students enrolled than last year
58% are full-time and 42% are part-time
66% are female and 34% are male
Representation from 38 countries, and 47 states
6,612, or 93% of students are Wisconsin residents
10% are from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds
Known and celebrated as a “military-friendly” campus, the percentage of veteran students increased from 5% to 7%

Snapshot: Fall 2018 Green Bay Campus Freshman Class

925 students, 600 females and 325 males
49% are the first-generation students in their families to attend college
13% come from underrepresented minority backgrounds
834 or 90% of the new freshmen are traditional 18-19 year-olds
638 students, representing 69% of the freshman class, have a high school grade point average of 3.0 or above
The Gateways to Phoenix Success (GPS) program — a learning community designed to support student success and access alike, welcomed 248 participants this year
843 or 91% of the Green Bay campus freshmen are from Wisconsin
21% or just under 200 students are from Brown County followed by Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie and Sheboygan counties with 40+ learners each

Snapshot: UW-Green Bay Branch Campus Enrollment

Snapshot: Top admission interest areas declared by Green Bay Area Public Schools graduates

Nursing and Human Biology
Business Administration
Education
Computer Science

About the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a comprehensive public institution offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs to nearly 8,500 students with campus locations in Green Bay, Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan. Established in 1965 on the border of Green Bay, the University and its campuses are centers of cultural enrichment, innovation and learning. The Green Bay campus is home to one of the Midwest’s most prolific performing arts centers, a nationally recognized 4,000-seat student recreation center, an award-winning nine-hole golf course and a five-mile recreational trail and arboretum, which is free and open to the public. This four-campus University transforms lives and communities through student-focused teaching and research, innovative learning opportunities, powerful connections and a problem-solving approach to education. UW-Green Bay’s main campus is centrally located, close to both the Door County resort area and the dynamic economies of Northeast Wisconsin, the Fox Valley region and the I-43 corridor. UW-Green Bay offers in-demand programs in science, engineering and technology; business; health, education and social welfare; and arts, humanities and social sciences. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.

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