OSHKOSH, Wis. — Money problems continue to plague the Universities of Wisconsin (UW) System. Seven UW System schools remain in debt. UW Oshkosh (UWO) has now announced it needs help from the UW System to help sustain its budget for this school year.

Despite major financial issues and proposed renovations at UW Oshkosh, some students are keeping their faith in the UW System.

What You Need To Know

  • UW Oshkosh received a loan from Universities of Wisconsin System to help get its budget back to black

  • Gov. Evers is requesting an additional $400 million dollars a year for the system, which would total $800 million over the full 2025 through 2027 budget period

  • Seven UW schools — Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Parkside, River Falls, Stevens Point, Superior and Whitewater — expect budget shortfalls

Emma Sullivan is a senior at UWO and said it was love at first sight after visiting the university.

“I was touring it and getting a view of the campus, I was like, ‘oh, I actually like this way better than the college I decided on before,’” Sullivan said.

Even though Sullivan is on track to graduate this fall. She said she’s still concerned about the current state of UW Oshkosh’s finances.

“I’m not going to sit here and say that I haven’t been noticing the changes. It’s been affecting the campus all over, and I think every single UW school is been feeling this type of trouble,” Sullivan said.

UW Oshkosh is operating in the red. The school has just over an $8 million dollar cash deficit. Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said this shortfall is two-part. 

“We believe that the true structural deficit is between three and four million and the additional three or so million is really a delay, if you will, in achieving the savings that we’ve worked on this year,” Chancellor Leavitt said.

So the UW System is stepping in to help by providing UW Oshkosh with a loan. Leavitt said there’s already a plan to get back on track financially and these funds will help the school finish the year in the black.

“We knew that we would finish in deficit at the end of this year, and we are very grateful to the Universities of Wisconsin for providing the bridge loan that’s necessary to help us reorganize. We have made substantial changes to our academic structure, which you’ve not yet achieved,” Leavitt said.

Despite these financial challenges, students like Sullivan remain at ease and thankful for the university’s transparency.

“I like how open they’re being about every single change that’s coming our way. So, while obviously, it’s difficult, as again, it would be with any other place, I’m hopeful that everything will work out in the end,” Sullivan said.

To help increase enrollment numbers and student demand, UWO is proposing to demolish four aging dorms. Leavitt said the Donner, Gruenhagen, Radford and Webster residence halls, which we were built in the 1950s and 60s, don’t satisfy that need anymore. He went on to say this is part of a cost-efficient capital plan to replace rather than remodel.

When asked if any further cuts loomed at UWO, Leavitt had this response, “Cuts is a strange world, actually, and it’s about the management of our fiscal situation. At this point, we had very difficult cuts, of course, this past year, but moving into the new year, it’s more about position control. It’s going to be about achieving savings through looking at our business operations, utilities and those kinds of endeavors. So, to say that we’re going to have across-the-board cuts is probably not the realistic way to look at it. It’s more about managing our fiscal situation.”

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