Black Student Enrollment & Graduation Rates Are Low at UWM, SDS Says

On April 8, 2023, the Students for a Democratic Society at UWM, made an Instagram post to spread awareness about low enrollment rates among Black Students at UWM.

Rory Donovan, a student who is a part of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), stated to Media Milwaukee that they think resourcing may be one of the contributing factors to the low enrollment rate.

“We were doing a campaign for getting cops off campus and the Police Department has a $3 million budget,” said Donovan. “Compared to other things the BSCC (Black Student Cultural Center) only has four staff members.

“When UWM says they value something but then they don’t put the money into the resources behind it, it’s not going to do what it needs to do,” said Donovan.

According to a study done by College Factual, roughly 6.5% of UW-Milwaukee’s population is African-American; with an estimated amount of 1,602 enrolled at UWM. 

Not only are the Black student enrollment rates extremely low at UWM, but they’re also low throughout the entire University of Wisconsin System with about 4,754 being enrolled in the UW-System.

UWM has had approximately 1,551 African American students enroll between the fall semesters of 2021 and 2022.

In proportion to the study done by College Factual, another study released by Univ Stats indicated that

The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee has a graduation rate of 28.04% among its Black students.

To break down this percentage further, approximately 19.54% (17 out of 87) of Black students that are male graduate from UWM, and 33.86% (43 out of 127) of Black students who are female graduate from UWM.

So, why is this happening? A statement given to Media Milwaukee from the Enrollment office at UWM stated that many contributions are causing the low enrollment rates. Some of these factors include the availability of finances, academic preparedness, and finding connections within an institution.

 Rachel Buff who has been a professor at UW-Milwaukee for 18 years in the ethnic studies, cultures, and communities program spoke with Media Milwaukee about some of the systemic problems that may be contributing to the low enrollment and graduation rates.

“There might be a racial disparity here,” said Buff, “where students of color are getting bumped into CGS and having to spend more money, and time and being told that their ACT scores count when maybe they don’t for other students.”

“I mean, one thing that’s important in general you know is the geographic segregation of Milwaukee and UWM within it.”

Professor Buff has had numerous discussions with students of color about their experiences at UWM.

“From talking with a fair amount of students, particularly young men, but also women; you know, as a person of color in a predominantly white institution, in a predominately white neighborhood where police kind of assume what are you doing here,” said Buff.

Another issue Professor Buff discussed with Media Milwaukee was how resources that were initially meant to help students of color were made mainstream for the rest of UWM students like the Milwaukee Scholars Program.

According to the MKE Scholars Page, the Milwaukee Scholars Program provides support for students that attended schools within the Milwaukee Public School system by giving them personalized access to resources on UWM’s campus.

The UWM Enrollment office has emphasized to Media Milwaukee that to prevent these issues, UWM has partnered with Moon Shot for Equity and M3.

As stated by the Enrollment office at UWM, Moon Shot for Equity and M3 are both programs that dedicate their time to ensuring students complete their college degrees. These programs are specifically aimed at supporting low-income students, first-generation students, and students of color.