The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is closing its Baraboo campus at the end of the school year, eliminating an educational option that has been around since 1968.
It’s the eighth of the 13 UW branch campuses to either close or downsize since 2023, underscoring the financial pressures and enrollment problems these schools have faced.
UW-Platteville Chancellor Tammy Evetovich, who declined an interview, cited declining enrollment as the main driver of the decision.
Initially designed to accommodate 350 students, UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County enrolled 126 this fall. That’s down from nearly 500 in 2018, the year UW-Platteville absorbed oversight of the campus.
UW-Platteville agreed to honor the Baraboo campus tuition rate for students who transfer to the main campus next fall. The university is developing plans for each of the 22 faculty and staff who work at the campus.
The campus’ operating budget for its final year is $1.8 million. Its last day will be May 22, 2026.
What is a branch campus?
The Baraboo campus in Sauk County, often called “Boo-U” by locals, began as an extension of UW-Madison and later joined the UW Colleges. The 13 branch campuses within UW Colleges operated as as affordable two-year launch pads for students to pursue associate’s degrees close to home before transferring to a four-year university.But about a decade ago, the UW Colleges began seeing a steep drop in students because there were fewer Wisconsin high school students for campuses to recruit. The campuses also faced competition from technical colleges.
Madison Area Technical College has campuses in Portage and Reedsburg, both of which are about a half-hour drive away from UW-Baraboo.
In 2018, the branch campuses were placed under the oversight of four-year UW institutions in an attempt to keep them open. Since then, five — UW-Platteville Richland, UW-Milwaukee at Washington County, UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha, UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac and UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities have closed. A sixth, UW-Green Bay Marinette, has ended in-person classes. A seventh, UW-Stevens Point Marathon County, is relocating its campus to the local technical college in fall 2026.
Redevelopment plans underway for UW-Baraboo Sauk County campus
The 63-acre campus is jointly owned and maintained by Sauk County and the City of Baraboo.
“We’re pretty optimistic about the future of our campus,” then-Baraboo City Administrator Casey Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2023.
But concerns grew more recently.
Sauk County in 2025 took on the responsiblity for and covered some operational tasks that UW-Platteville had previously covered, such as snow-shoveling and lawn-mowing. The amount totaled $390,000.
In June, UW-Platteville moved the campus from four buildings into one. The consolidation, coupled with the campus’ falling enrollment pattern, pushed county officials to explore redevelopment options.
Sauk County sought proposals from firms this summer, hired two companies this fall and aims to finalize a plan by next June. It plans to pay for the work with a state grant available to counties with closed UW campuses.
“We wanted to be in front of any decision that was made for us,” county development director Melanie Platt-Gibson said about the decision to issue a request for proposals months before the campus closure announcement came.
Sauk County learned of the campus’ closure around 12:30 p.m. Oct. 17, just minutes before media outlets.
Other UW campuses repurposed into housing, K12 school, community center
The Baraboo campus has enriched the community with arts, athletics and culture. Baraboo Mayor Rob Nelson said he personally enjoyed using the library and participating in theater productions.
“Those sort of connections will be sorely missed,” he wrote in an email. “While this decision was beyond our control, it does not deter us from working with the community to ensure that the campus remains a vibrant resource for Baraboo and Sauk County residents for years to come.”
Rep. Karen DeSanto, D-Baraboo, laid blame on the Republican-controlled Legislature for failing to adequately fund UW campuses for nearly a decade.
Sen. Sarah Keyeski, another Democrat whose district includes the campus, said having two-year campus options gives people more flexibility in their education.
“It’s upsetting to see this trend of two-year colleges closing across our state,” she said in a statement.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman told state lawmakers earlier this year the remaining branch campuses would stay open if his request for an $855 million budget increase over the next two years was approved. The budget passed this summer included a $256 million increase.
At other shuttered branch campuses, the four-year universities that were in charge of them have largely abandoned their presence post-closure, leaving decisions on the properties to county and city officials.
Hundreds of homes are slated to replace the former Waukesha campus. In Washington County, a private Christian school is poised to buy the former West Bend campus. Fond du Lac County converted the former UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac campus into an events center and community space. Richland County, so far unable to generate interest from outside buyers, has been slowly dismantling its former campus piece by piece.
Kelly Meyerhofer has covered higher education in Wisconsin since 2018. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Platteville closing Baraboo campus in 2026, citing low enrollment
Reporting by Kelly Meyerhofer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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