University of Wisconsin Colleges

The University of Wisconsin Colleges, established in 1971 was a unit of the University of Wisconsin System composed of 13 local two-year campuses and one online campus, University of Wisconsin Colleges Online. These campuses offered a liberal arts, transfer-parallel curriculum. The Colleges as a functional unit was dissolved as of June 30, 2018. The campuses were then made affiliates of some of the four-year campuses of the University of Wisconsin System, although many of them have since been closed or are in the process of closing.

Campuses
As of 2018, the campuses were the following:


 * University of Wisconsin Colleges Online (replaced by an Associate of Arts and Sciences program offered by the University of Wisconsin Extended Campus)

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire: University of Wisconsin–Green Bay: University of Wisconsin–Platteville: University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh: University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point: University of Wisconsin–Whitewater:
 * University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire – Barron County
 * University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus
 * University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marinette Campus (Courses will solely be streamed in from other campuses starting Fall 2024)
 * University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus
 * University of Wisconsin-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County
 * University of Wisconsin-Platteville Richland (Closed)
 * University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee at Washington County (Closing after Spring 2024 semester)
 * University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee at Waukesha (Closing after Spring 2025 semester)
 * University of Wisconsin–Fond du Lac (Closing after Spring 2024 semester)
 * University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley (Closing June 30, 2025)
 * University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point at Wausau
 * University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point at Marshfield
 * University of Wisconsin–Whitewater at Rock County

An Associate degree could be earned at any of the campuses, including the online campus. As of 2013, six of the campuses offered a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree. The UW Colleges were also frequently used as a stepping stone in order to transfer to another institution in the University of Wisconsin System. This was facilitated by the "Guaranteed Transfer Program" whereby a student was guaranteed admission as a junior to another institution if certain requirements are met.

History
In 1940, the University of Wisconsin-Extension began operating freshman-sophomore centers across the state. After World War II, the UW Board of Regents encouraged counties and municipalities to donate land for this purpose, mainly to serve the influx of students enrolling after the war. After the 1971 merger of the University of Wisconsin System with the Wisconsin State Universities System to form the present-day UW System, the freshman-sophomore centers became a separate institution of the newly created system known as the University of Wisconsin Centers. The centers became known as University of Wisconsin Colleges in 1997.

In 2005, the Board of Regents partially reunited UW Colleges with UW-Extension. Although the two units share a single administration, they have separate provosts and retained separate identities.

The last chancellor of both UW Colleges and UW-Extension was Cathy Sandeen.

Restructuring
Due to years of declining enrollment, the UW Board of Regents voted on November 9, 2017 to proceed with a proposal that merged the physical University of Wisconsin Colleges campuses with seven of the four-year campuses of the University of Wisconsin System. The merger created regional clusters with two-year branches of the comprehensive four-year campuses. It would allow the system to maintain a higher education presence throughout the state's counties where college-aged students had dropped because of declining birthrates. The resulting merger also allowed students to freely transfer from a two-year campus to any four-year institution within the university system.