WHITEWATER – The word is out about the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s successes. From the national championship football team to outstanding programs across all four colleges, the campus has grown in popularity among potential incoming freshman.
For the third straight year, UW-Whitewater’s freshman applications are up 11 percent. More than 6,700 applications were submitted to the university, the percentage increase highest among any of the University of Wisconsin System schools. The campus is on pace to admit its largest class of incoming freshman since 1985.
“Clearly ours is a campus students are excited to attend,” Admissions Director Steve McKellips said. “The success of our athletic teams has definitely helped with recruitment and the anticipation of both the new University Center and the new College of Business and Economics building helps as well.”
McKellips also credits a more personalized recruitment strategy with the increase in freshman applications. “This new generation of college students is all about relationship building,” he said. “They want to make connections with people before they even arrive on campus. We’re seeing more faculty members going out and personally talking to prospects and then inviting them back to campus for a visit. All that attention really makes a big difference in a student’s decision-making about college.”
Incoming freshman Brandon Narveson is ranked No. 1 in his class at Oshkosh West High School and said that it was the people at UW-Whitewater that separated the campus from others.
“The people from Admissions had a large impact on my decision. I toured UW-Whitewater on a bitter cold February day. The tour was OK, but all I wanted to do after the tour was leave. However, my mom insisted that we go and talk to someone in Admissions. I went along grudgingly but in the end, I was very glad I did. We were warmly greeted by (Interim Associate Director of Admissions) Troy Moldenhauer. He sat down with us for about an hour, taking time to read my application, and checked into scholarship possibilities. He made me feel like he wanted what was best for me, even if that meant attending another school. UW-Whitewater was really the first school that showed any interest in me and that was extremely important to me.”
Demetrice Allen will be a freshman in the fall and said he’s been visiting UW-Whitewater’s campus since he was a freshman in high school.
“This is my dream college and I am happy to be able to attend in the fall,” he said.
Allen who lives in Milwaukee and attends Vincent High School said that he likes the campus and city environment. “It’s a quiet surrounding instead of the city life,” he said.
“When students talk about UW-Whitewater they describe our campus as a nurturing place with a strong sense of community,” Chancellor Richard Telfer said. “Clearly students want to be part of this.”
He added that the tremendous work the university is doing with its students has not gone unnoticed. “Our Academic Advising and Exploration Center was recently named an outstanding advising program by the National Academic Advising Association. Our Undergraduate Research Program is recognized as one of the best programs in the nations. The campus is ranked one of the top 10 disability friendly universities in the U.S. All of these again show our commitment to student success.”
