April 18, 2020
Dear Faculty, Students and Staff:
A version of this letter will be sent to elected officials, community leaders and alumni throughout eastern Wisconsin and before it goes out we want you to be aware of the information it contains.
In today’s truly global marketplace for goods and services, a real premium is paid for information and knowledge. Indeed, convincing data is available to support the value of public investment in publicly supported higher education.
UW Oshkosh, the State’s third largest university, provides leadership for northeastern Wisconsin as a vital educational, economic, and cultural center. It does this by spearheading collaboration and partnerships through membership in New North , a consortium of chambers of commerce, workforce development boards, economic development professionals and CEOs of major corporations in the region. With that in mind, we cordially invite you to review the abridged or full report of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Marketing Update 2006. The report provides an analysis of the increase in the University’s economic impact for the past three years.
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The University’s influence is reflected in 2006 data that shows the creation of more than
$500 million in income and 9,000 jobs , and $37 million in state and local tax revenue .
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Over the last three years, the total economic contributions increased by 16% from $432 million to $501 million.
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While these are impressive aggregate numbers, on the micro level the UW Oshkosh’s promise is expressed through the hopes, dreams and aspirations of 2,035 new 2005-06 graduates , the single-largest graduating class in the history of the institution. The quality of our graduates is well established:
- Letters and Science graduates continue to be coveted by the best graduate programs in the nation.
- Since 1999, the College of Nursing graduate students’ pass rate on the American
Nurses Credentialing Center-Family Nurse Practitioner Exam has been 100 percent;
- Senior business majors and MBA students at UW Oshkosh taking the ETS business knowledge assessment test rank in the top 5 percent nationwide;
- UW Oshkosh students who took the CPA exam placed the university in the top 10 schools nationally; and

- Since 1990, 35 UW Oshkosh graduates have gone on to be awarded the Herb Kohl Teacher of the Year Award
We hope you see how the University generates market opportunities for various economic sectors, such as general retail, housing and services.
UW Oshkosh has enhanced its impact by continually realigning its curriculum and support services to meet State and regional economic development needs
. We are becoming much more agile and aligned with the needs of our region and State (see University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Regional Economic Impact Highlights ).
The Growth Agenda for Wisconsin, which provides funding for new, high-demand programs and facilities to meet the educational needs of northeast Wisconsin’s New North, recognizes and supports our successful record. The Governor’s proposed budget for 2007-2009 includes funding for UW Oshkosh to serve an additional 350 citizens by providing more educational opportunities in high demand majors and professions (see Governor’s Budget Proposal Memo ).
We have launched UW Oshkosh’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign to augment the public funding of the institution. The focus of the pride.purpose.promise
campaign is to demonstrate private support for our public purpose. Private contributions are being raised to help construct a new academic building, to develop and improve academic programs and to provide additional scholarships and collaborative research opportunities for our students and faculty. The success of this campaign will reflect the positive support that we receive from the people and the communities of Northeast Wisconsin for producing more highly educated and talented citizens, for providing an excellent return on investment, and for having one of the lowest administrative overhead in the nation.
According to a National Center for Higher Education Management Systems study funded by the
Pew Charitable Trust,
1 the UW comprehensive universities provide the fifth best state investment to performance ratio in the nation . In addition to this outstanding return on investment, the UW system universities including UW Oshkosh have the leanest state university administration in the country – one-half the national average.
We hope you are able to support the pride.purpose.promise
campaign and the Growth Agenda for UW Oshkosh to grow the “knowledge assets and talents” of Northeast Wisconsin’s 1.2 million citizens.
In partnership and collaboration, we look forward to working with you in the coming year.
Sincerely,
Richard H. Wells
Chancellor
References
1 A New Look at the Institutional Component of Higher Education Finance: A Guide for Evaluating Performance
Relative to Financial Resources, Patrick J. Kelly and Dennis P. Jones, National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems (NCHEMS). December, 2005.