WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK 1987-1988


                    HIGHLIGHTS OF EDUCATION IN WISCONSIN

   Universities and Colleges - Over 164 thousand students are enrolled in
the University of Wis-
 consin System.
   1986-87 fall enrollment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the system's
largest campus,
 showed a slight decrease (311) from the 1985-86 peak of 164,783. Between
1981-82 and 1985-86,
 enrollment increased by 5,899 students or 3.7 percent.
   The system's summer school enrollment reached a peak of 55.7 thousand
in 1983, but has since
 fluctuated and declined to 54.6 thousand in 1986. A summer session enrollment
range of 52,000
 to 55,000 plus has been the norm over the past 5 years.
   The UW-Extension enrollment was 178 thousand in 1984-85, and increased
by 40 thousand to
a 1985-86 enrollment of 218 thousand.
   Wisconsin's private college enrollment has remained stable over the past
5 years, with a mean
of about 35,084 students enrolled per year. The figures also reflect the
undergraduate orientation
of the state's private colleges, with 83.6 percent of the students enrolled
as undergraduates in
1986-87.
   Vocational, Technical and Adult Education - Wisconsin's vocational, technical
and adult edu-
cation system had a total opening fall enrollment in the 1986-87 school year
of 75.7 thousand.
Individual institute enrollments ranged from 19,435 at Milwaukee Area Technical
College to
1,183 at Southwest Wisconsin Technical Institute.
   Elementary and Secondary Schools - Since 1971-72, when the enrollment
peaked at almost
one million, enrollment in the public schools has declined to a 1986-87 figure
of 767.8 thousand.
The greatest decline in enrollment has occurred in the early school grades,
particularly kinder-
garten through sixth grade, but the decline is now reflected in the higher
grades.
   Over 148.3 thousand students are enrolled in private schools as of the
opening of the 1986-87
school year. Excepting 1976-77, there has been a 10-year trend of declining
enrollments. Kin-
dergarten enrollment, however, has been increasing.
  School Districts - Wisconsin has 432 school districts. Since the peak year
of 1937-38 with
over 7,000 districts, there has been a decrease of 94.6 percent. The decrease
in the number of
elementary school districts is primarily responsible for this change. In
contrast, districts operat-
ing high schools have remained relatively stable. Almost 86 percent are common
school districts,
and 11.6 percent are unified school districts. The number of school districts
per county varies
from one each in Adams, Florence and Menominee Counties to 20 in Waukesha
County.
  Teachers - Of Wisconsin's 55.1 thousand public school teachers, 33.6 thousand
hold the
Bachelor of Arts degree, while an additional 20.6 thousand, approximately
37 percent, hold
advanced degrees. Most holding advanced degrees are either in secondary education
or in an
administrative or supervisory position.
  The average salary for public school teachers in 1985-86 is $26,347. Of
36,504 teachers, ap-
proximately 50 percent receive a salary of $23,298 to $30,498. One hundred
and one teachers
earn $13,997 and under; there are 21 teachers in the highest category earning
$41,298 and over.
  Educational Expenditures - Expenditures for public education in Wisconsin
in the 1985-86
school year totaled $4.8 billion, or $1,006 per capita. The preponderance
of public funds are
spent on the public schools, with the University of Wisconsin System ranking
next.
  Wisconsin ranks 13th in the nation in total expenditures for education,
12th in higher educa-
tion expenditures, and 18th in state aid to local government for education.
While the state ranks
9th in per capita education expenditures, it ranks 27th nationally in personal
income.
   Educational Attainment - In 1982-83, Wisconsin ranked 13th among the states
in doctoral
degrees conferred, 13th in bachelor's degrees earned and 14th in high school
diplomas. Califor-
nia ranked first in the doctoral degrees and high school diplomas categories,
and New York
ranked first in bachelor's degrees.
  Public School Student Dropouts - In Wisconsin, public school student dropouts
ranged in
1985-86 from 3 or a rate of 1.1 percent in Florence County, to 3,324 or a
rate of 7.8 percent in
Milwaukee County.
  The following tables present selected data. Consult footnoted sources for
more detailed infor-
mation on education.


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