BARABOO, Wis. -- The Sauk County Board will set aside $390,000 in the county's 2025-26 budget to cover operating costs for the Universities of Wisconsin's smallest campus.
The move comes as five UW campuses have announced closures in just the last two years after budget cuts passed down to the Universities of Wisconsin from the state legislature.
"From a business standpoint, in the model for the university, I get it," said Sauk County Board president Tim McCumber. "When you are running deficits and you can't turn them around, it's hard."
UW-Platteville's Baraboo Sauk County campus is the smallest in the system when it comes to enrollment, only serving around 200 students. As enrollment has declined over the last two decades, McCumber says the county has been working with the university to bring in and retain students.
"We've been working very closely with them to target degree degree programs that would be impactful to the area," McCumber said. "So bringing in a business administration degree, working with them on an engineering degree, we're bringing in some hospitality with the Wisconsin Dells and Lake Delton. So that's helped in having that growth in enrollment, but at the bottom line, they're still not breaking even."
He says that's why the county is stepping in now to cover the school's operating costs.
"Sauk County is in a very unique position in having the Lake Delton tourism economy, McCumber said. "We worked very hard also coming out of the pandemic to grow our marketing brand, and we're number two in the state for direct visitors spend right behind Milwaukee County. So having that extra tax revenue come through sales tax gives us the flexibility to do this."
UW-Platteville Chancellor Tammy Evetovich says that extra funding will allow the university to focus on other fixes.
" I think we're coming up with some innovative solutions that creates a sustainable, forward thinking way of partnering together," Evetovich said. "I think our part in this is that we have to continue to recruit to that campus because maintaining enrollment is paramount to our success."
But McCumber warns that while this might work for Sauk County right now, it's not necessarily a solution all local governments can accommodate.
"In some ways, this is a band aid," McCumber said. "I don't want the university to think that this is something every county can do, or any municipal government, it's a challenge for us all to find dollars."
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