Wisconsin Rates High in Return on University Spending

A new report came out yesterday from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. They tried to rate how well university systems were using their resources. The UW system ranked in the top five. The overall rating was lower because we received a much lower ranking for the community college system.

Wisconsin was among the best for numbers of PhDs and BAs produced per dollar spent.

Pages 28-30 of the report compare Georgia and Wisconsin. The states spend similar amounts, but Wisconsin's results are much better.

The report proposes that fewer minorities, fewer part-time students, and more spending on student services might provide some reasons for the difference. The report adds that there is a direct correlation between income levels and high school preparation, both places where WI beats GA.

All of this data seems to suggest that we are not squandering resources on administration or in other ways that the anti-system legislators like to claim.

It also reinforces the idea that investing in Wisconsin higher education is a sound, both in the short term and the longer term.

Maybe Doyle will take time out of his state of the state address to call for re-funding the universities, so that we can improve on what is already a solid public education system.


Here is the link to the study (a pdf file)

Here is the link to the Inside Higher Ed story that pointed me to it