This post originally appeared at https://www.bootsandsabers.com/2023/06/26/legislature-proposes-to-merge-uwmwc-and-mptc/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=legislature-proposes-to-merge-uwmwc-and-mptc

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Washington County would merge with Moraine Park Technical College under a plan pushed through by Republican lawmakers Thursday as part of the state budget.

If signed into law, UWM-Washington County could become the second UW branch campus to effectively shutter its doors since a 2018 restructuring put the UW System’s two-year campuses under the oversight of four-years.

UW-Platteville Richland essentially closed at the end of this school year, a move that came after more than a decade of stagnant state funding, tuition freezes and declining enrollment that left the Richland Center campus with less than 60 students studying there.

The Joint Committee on Finance voted to shift UWM-Washington County from a UW branch campus to a “joint Moraine Park Technical College/Washington County operation.” It’s unclear from the motion what, if any, UW’s involvement would be post-merger. UW System could receive $3.35 million, pending the budget committee’s approval, to aid in the transition.