WAICU-member private colleges and universities enroll more than 59,000 students each year, or roughly one-quarter of the four-year degree-seeking students in Wisconsin.  More than two-thirds of the enrolled students are from Wisconsin.

Racial/Ethnic Diversity

In fall 2007, 12.49 percent of Wisconsin private college students were members of minority groups; approximately 40 percent were non-traditional (age 25 or over).  The UW System had a 9.75 percent minority enrollment and 22 percent of its students were age 25 or over.

Economic Diversity

Private colleges are committed to educational opportunity for students regardless of their family income.  Students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant (by definition, those with significant financial need) constitute a higher percentage of enrolled students at Wisconsin private colleges than at 4-year UW System institutions. 

Financial Aid

The average price for tuition and fees at a Wisconsin private college or university during the 2007-2008 academic year was $22,033.  At the same time, the average freshman financial aid package was $16,797, leaving average net tuition costs of just $5,236.  (Additional costs for room and board are roughly comparable in the public and private sectors.)  Grants, which do not have to be paid back, comprised 70 percent of the average private aid package.

More than 90 percent of full-time undergraduates at private colleges in Wisconsin receive financial aid--the majority of which is provided by the institutions themselves.

Of the grant aid made available to private-sector students during the 2007-2008 academic year, $280 million, or 81 percent, was comprised of institutional/private aid.  Federal grants represented 10 percent of grant aid, with state grants at 8 percent.

State Funding

The Wisconsin Tuititon Grant (WTG) is the primary state-funded need-based financial aid program for students attending private colleges.  The 2007-2008 WTG appropriation of $25.5 million represented less than two percent of all state funds appropriated for higher education.

Leveraging State Tax Dollars

Private higher education is a bargain for state taxpayers.  Each full-time equivalent student attending the UW System is supported by a state taxpayer subsidy of more than $7,600 per year, while the comparable support for a full-time equivalent private college student is just $537 per year.  Each dollar in state-funded need-based aid to private college students is matched by more than ten dollars raised by the colleges themselves.

Educational Impact

Each year, private institutions produce more than 12,000 graduates, the majority of whom remain in Wisconsin.

Economic Impact

Private colleges and universities and their graduates generate more than $8.4 billion dollars for the state's economy every year.  This impact includes $722 million in direct expenditures to deliver higher education services, and nearly $800 million more in induced industry expenditures.

Personal Attention

The average class size in Wisconsin's private colleges is just 17 students and the student/faculty ratio is 13:1.  This personal interaction is just one reason that the majority of students graduating from private colleges do so in four years.