Audit: UW System staffing, salaries increased as student population down 16K

(The Center Square) – The University of Wisconsin System has seen an increase in staff and salaries over the past 10 years while student enrollment has dropped by 16,000, according to an audit released by the chairs of the state audit committee.

Academic staff grew 33.4% with a 97.4% increase in salary costs over that time while limited appointees rose 39% with a 78.3% increase in salary costs.

“While the Universities of Wisconsin do a lot of good for our state, they have lost their way and are mired in breathtaking administrative bloat, wasteful spending, and discriminatory practices under the guise of DEI,” Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, said in a statement. “This data shows UW continues to protect its own bureaucracy at the expense of students. The challenge for Wisconsin remains cutting its bureaucracy and investing in the programs that best provide for our modern workforce, such as engineering and nursing degrees.”

Overall academic staff in the system went from 15,425 in 2015 to 20,818 in 2024. During that time, salary costs for all of the UW system academic staff went from more than $728 million in 2015 to more than $1.4 billion in 2024.

“As the Audit Committee co-chair, I recognize that waste and bloat are inherent in bureaucracies,” Wimberger said. “UW’s future rests on its ability to provide more value to our students and our state, and I trust that Republicans will find a way in this budget to help UW get back on track and do the job Wisconsinites need them to do.”

The data was released as the UW System is asking for an $855 million increase in funding in the next biennial budget.

Gov. Tony Evers did a promotional tour of the UW system campuses while touting his proposal for an $800 million funding increase for the system.

“Despite our best efforts, for more than a decade now we’ve watched a war be waged on public higher education in Wisconsin with devastating effects of which include campus closures, staff and faculty layoffs and program cuts and consolidation,” Evers said at the time.

The UW system had 163,589 students on campus in the fall, an increase of 1,000 students year over year.