Universities of Wisconsin officials plan to close another two-year school in the face of declining enrollment, this time in the Fox Cities.
UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt announced Thursday that in-person learning at the school's two-year branch campus in Menasha will end after the spring 2025 semester.
The Menasha campus' website said before Leavitt's announcement that the school serves 1,367 students. But an analysis UW-Oshkosh Provost Ed Martini completed this spring showed the school had just 563 students enrolled in fall 2023. Enrollment has declined by 67% over the last decade, and projections show fewer than 100 students could attend the school by 2032, the analysis found. The school needs at least 491 students to remain financially viable, the analysis said.
The campus website was later updated to say the school serves 473 students. Leavitt's chief of staff, Alex Hummel, said in an email that number reflects spring 2024 enrollment and the 1,367 figure was old.
He added that 227 students had enrolled for fall 2025 as of Wednesday, down 8.5% from the same time last year.
Leavitt said during a video conference with reporters that Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman made the decision Monday to end operations at the school.
"Unfortunately, the analysis is that the market and enrollment cannot sustain the Fox Cities Campus moving forward," Rothman said in a statement.
The school's 16 faculty members will be transferred to UW-Oshkosh, Leavitt said. The future of its 64 staff members depends on the four-year school's 2026 budget, he said.