Local colleges saw mixed enrollment trends this fall as they reckoned with delays in a federal financial aid form, changes in programs and enrollment procedures and more. The majority of local colleges that provided data to the Telegraph Herald reported enrollment figures that were lower than they were in 2023, and half of those schools also saw their enrollment dip compared to five years prior. Compared to the fall of 2019, enrollment this fall is down 22.8% at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, 21.1% at the University of Dubuque and 12.4% at Loras College. At Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore, enrollment rose 6.5% over those five years. Clarke University saw its enrollment grow by 6.4% in that time, and at Northeast Iowa Community College, it climbed 4.9%. Compared to the fall of 2023, enrollment this fall decreased by 6.1% at Clarke, 4.6% at UW-P, 1.9% at Southwest Tech and 1.8% at UD. However, year-over-year enrollment increased by 6.3% at NICC and 0.5% at Loras.
