Wisconsin community colleges rank 8th in nation
GREEN BAY - With back-to-school quickly approaching, Wisconsinites will be reassured to know the state ranks in the top ten for the best community colleges in the nation — No. 8 to be exact.
The ranking comes from an analysis by personal finance website Wallethub of 2016’s Best & Worst Community Colleges. The individual rankings were combined to give each state an overall ranking.
The analysts compared more than 800 schools based on cost and financing, retention and graduation rates, student-faculty ratio, return on educational investment, student loan default rates and more.
Seventeen Wisconsin institutions are ranked on the list. Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore is ranked as the 11th best community college overall — the highest ranked Wisconsin school. Some local schools also made it in the top quarter. Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay was ranked 202nd and Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton came in at 129th.
The lowest ranked state school, Madison Area Technical College, was ranked 503rd.
Jill Gonzalez Wallethub analyst said the study is done each year to educate consumers on the community college systems that are effective and even outpace expensive four-year universities, especially as the cost of student loans continues to increase — very much a prevalent topic during this campaign season.
This list also comes at a time when community colleges are going through some major changes. Community colleges in 22 states, including some in Wisconsin, now offer bachelor's degree programs in high-demand fields. Other schools are even considering offering free associate's degrees.
"This shifts the idea of community colleges being 'halfway' points for students into being affordable, attainable ways to a great degree," Gonzalez said.
NWTC reflects those changes in its addition this year of a new, privately-owned student housing building adjacent to campus.
Karen Smits, vice president of college advancement at NWTC, said the college's ranking in the top 25 percent in the study shows their efforts to help students achieve their goals are effective and noticed.
She said the new option of student housing along with affordable tuition, student emergency grants, accessible staff and close relationships with four-year universities like the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh are just a few of the many ways the tech school is on the cutting edge.
"What we have done is really changed our thinking," Smits said. "Rather than have the focus be the student being college ready, we're reforming into a college that's student ready."
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Top ten states with best community college systems:
1. South Dakota
2. Alaska
3. North Dakota
4. Florida
5. Montana
6. Wyoming
7. Washington
8. Wisconsin
9. Connecticut
10. New Hampshire
Source: Wallethub