The University of Wisconsin-Platteville extension campus in Baraboo will close after its spring semester 2026, according to the campus’ webpage.

UWP Chancellor Tammy Evetovich announced this, stating that operations at the campus by UW-Platteville will cease May 22, 2026. This is the second Platteville outreach campus to close in the last few years, following UWP-Richland’s closure in 2023, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

With its small student and staff population, the campus was losing money quickly, leading to the decision to close it permanently, according to the statement. There are currently 178 students attending, with an average class size of 14, according to the UWP-Baraboo Sauk County website.

The staff size was also small, hovering around single digits, including professors and academic staff who were permanently on-site. There are currently 22 staff employed full-time, according to the staff directory. Facility, staff and infrastructure costs were too high for a satellite campus with that low student population, according to the university.

“Enrollment continues to decline on that campus,” Evetovich said on the campus’ webpage. “…We remain dedicated to supporting our students, faculty and staff through this transition.”

UWP has committed to assisting students who wish to continue their UW-Platteville education, including supporting their transition to the main campus or the online one to finish their degree program, according to the UWP Office of the Chancellor. UWP will also honor the branch campus tuition rate and offer housing stipends if Baraboo students choose to live in campus residence halls.

Students planning or currently commuting to the Baraboo campus will need to drive to either the Fox Valley or Madison area to continue in-person schooling. The nearest schools would be in the Fond du Lac or Madison areas, creating an “education desert,” according to UW professor of educational policy Taylor Odle.

“People living in an area where there’s no college or university nearby makes the likelihood they ever go to college much lower than if there was an option kind of close to home,” Odle said.

This is reflected in the situation the Baraboo area will face without a campus after the spring semester.

Students will have to choose between online schooling, a more permanent campus life or commuting further distances from the area.

“When the economy is good, college enrollments are lower because people are out in the workforce … but as unemployment from a bad economy ticks up, more people enroll in college so that they can upscale,” Odle said.

Enrollment at the Baraboo campus has been declining for a while, according to the enrollment history on their website. The campus was originally designed for 300 students and upgraded to fit 600. The current class size has become too small to sustain the campus’ lifespan.

Another reason for Baraboo’s closure is the competition from regional and technical colleges, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The Wisconsin educational system is one of the least funded in the nation, while its technical colleges are among the best funded in the nation due to local property taxes, according to Odle and national rankings. The Wisconsin system ranks 44th out of 50 in funding.

This creates an interesting relationship between these smaller regional campuses, colleges and the technical schools around the state. Students will have tough choices to make regarding what type of school fits them and their academic plan after Baraboo’s closing.

The state government is deeply divided over the campus closure, Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said in a press release. The debate between cost-benefit analysis and providing higher education opportunities to as many people as possible is the main argument being made, according to the release.

UW-Platteville’s main reasoning behind closing Baraboo Sauk County is that costs became too high, according to the campuses’ and Chancellor’s statement.

Baraboo’s closure will not significantly affect any UW system changes, Odle said. The student and staff population that will be displaced by the closing is “not significant enough” to warrant financial redistribution after the spring semester ends.

The UW system’s main costs regarding the ending of the Baraboo campuses’ teaching will be moving the staff and students to other campus locations, according to the Office of the Chancellor.

The main savings that the system expects to receive are simply having to fund one less campus, Odle said.

“I think Platteville will, of course, have some cost savings from no longer having to support another physical campus,” Odle said.