UW system has added 6,000 staff in past 30 years; enrollment is about the same
The Universities of Wisconsin employed about 6,000 more employees during the 2022-23 academic year than in the 1992-93 school year, despite serving a similar number of students, according to a recent analysis by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a nonpartisan arm of the Legislature.
It's data statehouse Republicans already are homing in on in the lead-up to negotiations over the next biennial budget.
Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard, who asked for the staffing data from the bureau, said it would be "critical" for the UW system to justify its request for an additional $855 million in the upcoming budget.
"Only in government would you witness a 6,000 person staffing increase in an organization with no new customers," Steffen said in a statement. "If the UW system wants the Legislature and taxpayers to take their massive $855 million budget increase seriously, they'll need to provide much more than flowery talking points."
Other Republican leaders, including budget-writing committee co-chairs Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, did not respond to the Wisconsin State Journal's requests for comment.
Earlier this year, Gov. Tony Evers pledged to request at least $800 million more in state aid for the UW system in his proposed budget.
About 160,000 students attended UW system schools in 1992 and 2022, and enrollment this fall is expected to be about 163,589 students.
Enrollment at UW-Madison, however, grew by about 8,000 students from 1992 to 2022, and the flagship university is responsible for 74.8% of the employee increases over that time. That's partially due to the fact that Madison has brought other departments, such as about 1,000 UW-Extension employees and Wisconsin Public Media, under its umbrella.
The Madison campus also has added support staff in advising and student services, which it credits with helping students graduate faster and stay in school, UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said. Academic staff is Madison's largest employee category, numbering 13,133 employees in 2022, compared with 5,333 in 1992.
"Academic staff" at Madison is a broad category, encompassing such positions as adjunct professors and administrative, advising and enrollment staff.
"UW-Madison's talented faculty and staff is one of the university's greatest strengths," Lucas said. "While the recent Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis shows that the ratio of staff per student has increased slightly over the last 30 years, UW-Madison's research expenditures have grown from $359 million to $1.5 billion, and enrollment has increased by 16% in that span."
Madison's staff-to-student ratio, one staff member per 2.5 students, is an outlier in the UW system, compared with one staff member per 2.8 students in 1992. All of the other UW system schools have staff-to-student ratios in the range of one staff member to every six to 10 students.
Research universities tend to have lower staff-to-student ratios because of the higher number of graduate students and staff who support research and teaching.
UW-Milwaukee, UW system's other research enterprise school, has the next-lowest ratio in the UW system, one staff member per 6.1 students.
Some of the highest staff-to-student ratios are at UW-Green Bay, which has 10.7 students per staff member; UW-Oshkosh, at 9.1 prior to deep cuts made in an effort to balance its budget last year; and UW-La Crosse, with a ratio of 8.8 students per staffer.
UW-Whitewater has added nearly 300 staff since 1992 despite having 500 fewer students. But in 1992, its staff-to-student ratio was 11.1, more than any UW system school in the past 30 years. Its ratio is now 8.7 students per staff member.
UW system spokesperson Mark Pitsch said that, outside of Madison, the UW system has 1,000 fewer employees than it did in 2018.
"The Universities of Wisconsin are producing thousands more graduates — including in high-demand STEM and health fields — now compared to three decades ago even as state financial support has woefully lagged inflation," Pitsch said.
State funding has declined
The state funded the UW system at nearly twice the percentage level in 1992 as it did during the 2023-24 school year. During the 1992-93 school year, state aid made up $745.2 million, or 32%, of the UW system's $2.3 billion budget; in 2023, the state provided $1.3 billion, or 17.5%, of the UW system's $7.5 billion budget.
In 1992, the UW system collected $340 million in tuition from students, making up 14.4% of its budget. In 2023, tuition made up 23.6% of the UW system's budget, raking in $1.7 billion from students.
The UW system ranks 43rd out of 50 states for state funding per full-time student, according to data from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
The fiscal bureau's numbers from 2022 do not reflect deep cuts UW system schools have made in the past fiscal year in an attempt to eliminate budget shortfalls. Oshkosh made some of the most painful cuts last October, when it eliminated more than 200 jobs through either layoffs or retirement incentives; it also declined to renew dozens more academic and instructional staff who don't have the protection of tenure.
UW-Platteville cut about 10% of its staff as well last year and has returned its administrative levels to those of a decade ago. And there are more cuts to make: UW-Eau Claire plans to eliminate another 179 employees this year, according to its third-party report; UW-River Falls is under a hiring freeze and will look to eliminate vacant faculty or staff positions, which total $2.7 million in wages.
Faculty ranks decreasing
Faculty ranks have grown at two schools, UW-Green Bay and UW-La Crosse, by 16% and 6%, respectively, from 1992 to 2022. During that time, Green Bay's enrollment increased by 6% and UW-La Crosse's increased by 19%.
Madison has lost 75 tenured faculty positions since 1992, despite growing by thousands of students and adding nearly 8,000 academic staff. It has fared the best of any of its UW system counterparts, retaining 96% of all faculty positions in the past 30 years.
Most UW system schools have between 25% and 30% fewer faculty positions than they did 30 years ago. UW-Eau Claire has lost the highest percentage, nearly 30%, or 146 faculty; UW-Milwaukee has seen the largest headcount drop, with 227 fewer faculty than in 1992.
Student enrollment has increased at Oshkosh and Platteville since 1992, but there are fewer faculty. Platteville has lost five faculty positions while UW-Oshkosh has lost 97.
The number of academic staff excluding Madison, which dominates the category with 13,133 academic staff supporting teaching and research, has increased by 4,273 employees in the last 30 years. There are 802 fewer faculty and 4,093 fewer university staff across the UW system in that same time frame.
