UW–Madison faculty members Brian Burt and Weijia Li are offering insight into the shifting landscape of graduate admissions as the university — and others nationwide — brace for potential enrollment declines. Their perspectives were recently featured in a Capital Times story examining how economic uncertainty, funding cuts, and global policy changes are beginning to reshape graduate education.
At UW–Madison, interest in graduate programs has grown steadily over the past decade, the article notes — with applications up 35% and admissions rising 28% in the last five years. But that momentum may be slowing. The university plans to release its fall enrollment data next month, and other institutions across the Big Ten are already reporting declines.
Brian Burt, a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) and director of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory, emphasized the financial pressures many graduate students now face. “Some of their financial packages have been reduced or altered or changed, given what’s going on politically in this political climate right now,” he said. “So that is not necessarily an issue of access, but that’s an issue of, you know, students’ experiences that impact their ability to make progress and actually make it to degree completion.”
Burt also pointed to a broader shift in student behavior: “A trend is that more students are going or attempting to go into graduate school right after they complete their bachelor’s,” he said. “That has been a trend that I believe has shifted in the last two decades.”
Despite financial headwinds, Burt encouraged students to pursue graduate education: “I generally tell people to go for it and not be concerned about the uncertainty because likely within a certain amount of time — five years, seven years — the market will turn back around. The jobs will reemerge.”
Weijia Li, a clinical professor in ELPA and director of the Global Higher Education master’s program, noted that while domestic applications have risen slightly after pandemic-era declines, international student enrollment is stalling for the first time in his program’s 12-year history. He said the shift is largely due to visa delays and immigration uncertainty.
As UW–Madison prepares to reduce budgets across its colleges and divisions by 5% and administrative units by 7%, faculty and graduate coordinators are watching closely to see how changes in funding, student interest, and the job market will shape this fall’s admissions and enrollment.
To learn more, read the full article in the Capital Times.