MEDIA

Study: Waukesha County needs more residents with 4-year degrees

UW-Waukesha to offer more programs in conjunction with other schools

By JOE PETRIE Freeman Staff

WAUKESHA – Instead of turning the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha into a four-year school or changing it into a university center, it will begin embedding programs from other schools to meet educational demands of businesses, school officials said Wednesday.

    According to a new study, Waukesha County businesses are in dire need of workers with four-year degrees in order to keep the local economy going, and the only way they can get a skilled work force is by having people learn close to home.

    “We have to invest in education and grow our own solutions right here in Waukesha County,” UW-Waukesha Dean Patrick Schmitt said. “We’re not going to be saved by importing foreign talent into our county.”

    The study surveyed county businesses and students to see what they’re looking for in an education. Both groups showed a big interest in growing four-year degrees in the county.

    The survey, which was started by UW-Waukesha, Waukesha County Technical College and Waukesha County Action Network representatives to find the educational needs of the county, found numerous shortages and expected shortages in skilled fields in various industries. Some of fields included are environmental engineers, underwriters, personal bankers, network systems analysts, civil engineers, medical assistants and diagnostic sonographers.

    The demand needs to be addressed now because the county is growing at twice the state average in population, including the fastest growth of traditional and nontraditional students of the largest counties in the state.

    Currently, only one-third of county residents have a bachelor’s degree, but 80 percent of UW-Waukesha and 44 percent of WCTC students said they’re interested in obtaining one. While 73 percent of respondents were females and 75 percent were under age 25, 75 percent surveyed said cost was a major issue in determining if they intend to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

    “Waukesha County is a strong, economically developing county ... it’s growing by leaps and bounds,” said Bronson Haase, WCAN education committee chair. “Whether you like it or don’t like it, the largest economic development project ever in the state of Wisconsin is going in in the Oconomowoc area ... and are we ready for it? Have we formed an agreement between educators to not only maintain what we got, but enhance it?”

    To meet the demands, the school will begin to offer two new baccalaureate degrees by the beginning of the fall semester, most likely in business and information technology, Schmitt said. The courses will be offered at UW-Waukesha, but they’ll be staffed by educators from other schools.

    When the student graduates, they’ll receive a degree from that college, but they’ll never have to leave the county, which officials said makes it much more likely they’ll stay here. The option is best because it carries a much smaller price tag than the alternatives, and both schools have the space to offer them, Schmitt said.

    The groups said they’ll continue to work on getting more programs and talk with state legislators and tell them what the needs are. However, they said they’re not going to wait for political and financial fighting to subside, so they’re going to have to act as a role model to the rest of the state.

    “We will be able to offer night classes and weekends and other times to accommodate students, including nontraditional students,” WCTC President Barbara Prindiville said. “And we already have state-of-the-art engineering labs.”