The University of Wisconsin System received a $1.2 million grant from a private foundation to expand a program to increase the number of Wisconsin adults with college degrees, although that expansion will not include UW-Madison in the near future.
The UW Flexible Option program targets adults with some college credits but no degree and adults changing careers to finish their college degree on their own time and at their own pace, while getting the same education as traditional students, Jessica Tormey, vice chancellor of External Relations for UW Colleges and UW Extension, said.
The Lumina Foundation awarded the grant to the program because it helps fulfill its mission of awarding more college degrees to adults, according to a UW System statement.
UW-Madison, however, has no plans to implement the program, according to UW-Madison Associate Provost and Director of Academic Planning Jocelyn Milner.
“We have…campuses that are interested in implementing, but right now, [UW Flexible Option] is focused on UW Colleges and UW-Milwaukee,” UW spokesperson David Giroux said. “Those are the institutions that have stepped forward so far.”
Milner added there is “demonstrated academic interest” in implementing the program at UW-Madison, which would happen in the third wave of implementation at the earliest.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 26 percent of Wisconsin adults hold college degrees, less than the national average at 28 percent.
Aaron Brower, UW Extension interim provost, said the UW Flexible Option program uses the same faculty for traditional programs to determine learning goals and assessments, rather than using different faculty.
Brower added the program allows its students to receive the same degrees as traditional students.
Tormey said the awarding of the Lumina grant to the UW System will make a tremendous impact on the project.
“The Lumina Grant is going to help us get the program get off of the ground and do it successfully,” Tormey said. “It’s going to allow us to evaluate ourselves so we can operate the program successfully and eventually, and it will allow us to model it for other universities.”
Brower added the grant is for the UW System as a whole, and will allow system officials to collect data on the program at each campus, and use that information to spread to other campuses.
Tormey added the program will be more attractive statewide as the Legislature works to train and improve the workforce to improve the economy.
The grant could also have an impact not only in Wisconsin, but nationally as well, Brower said.
“The Flex Option is the first system and (we are the first) public university to approach this,” Brower said. “We have a very attractive brand globally, and if you think about that, it could generate very significant revenue that could be drawn into the state.”
According to a UW System statement, the foundation has also given funding to support learning assessments for adult students, and for Project “Win-Win,” to help increase the number of people with college degrees.
