LIFE

UW Colleges offer education trifecta

Keith Montgomery
For Daily Herald Media
Students can now earn a bachelor’s degree in human services from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh by taking classes at UWMC.

Since June, I have had the privilege of serving as dean at both University of Wisconsin Marathon County and UW-Marshfield/Wood County. Next January, there will be one dean and administration for these campuses, plus UW-Barron County (Rice Lake) and UW-Marinette. These campuses will form the UW Colleges’ North Region. I have no doubt that students and communities will be well served by faculty and staff even with changes in administration, because our mission is to provide the best education and experience for our students.

Serving campuses in two communities has reinforced for me the great value of the UW Colleges for students of all ages who wish to pursue a University of Wisconsin education. The value doesn’t just lie in the cost of tuition which, at $2,375 for up to 18 credits per semester, is incredibly affordable. Affordability is even higher when factoring in the graduation rate of students who transfer to four-year universities in the UW System. Baccalaureate graduation rates of students transferring from UWMWC or UWMC are as high as students who started at those institutions and up to 90 percent higher than transfer students from the state’s technical colleges.

Admission upon transfer from UWMC or UWMWC to UW four-year schools is guaranteed if a student applies before completing 30 credits and transfers as a junior with a 2.0 GPA (2.8 for UW-Madison). Transferring students have the same rights and privileges as those who began their educations at baccalaureate institutions. Guaranteed transfer, or admission, is a standard no one else can claim.

Montgomery

And when we talk about value, we have to consider the employability of bachelor’s degree graduates, because that’s where the financial pay-off of any degree lies. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has been studying this for years, and its latest report, “The College Payoff,” says the value of a baccalaureate degree has recovered since the 2008 recession as no other degree has. On average, only 28 percent of those with an associate’s degree now earn more than someone with a bachelor’s degree. The odds favor those who work towards a bachelor’s, and the UW Colleges are clearly the best start towards that pay-off.

All this adds up to nothing short of an education trifecta of value, transferability and greater earning potential.

Our Marshfield and Wausau campuses are gems in the UW System and in their communities. Serving as dean of both sites, I have I looked for ways to create appropriate collaborations between them. For example, UW-Marshfield/Wood County offers the UW Colleges Bachelor’s of Applied Arts and Sciences degree and UW-Marathon County now provides access to this degree in the Wausau region.  Going forward, these kind of collaborations will increase, offering affordable educational opportunities to people throughout central Wisconsin.

Keith Montgomery is dean at University of Wisconsin Marathon County and interim dean at UW-Marshfield/Wood County.