UWM Pre-Nursing Admissions to Close March 1

MILWAUKEE – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) will close admissions to the College of Nursing pre-nursing programs for incoming freshman and transfer students for the 2005-2006 academic year as of March 1, 2005.

Generally, admissions for UWM’s schools and colleges close Aug. 1, but the nursing program already has reached capacity, says Susan Dean-Baar, associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Nursing. “We’ve significantly increased enrollment over the past few years, but we cannot keep expanding indefinitely without affecting the quality of the program.” This is the first time the College of Nursing, the largest in the state, has closed admissions early.

While it is encouraging that more young people are entering the nursing profession, Dean-Baar says, “it would not be fair to continue to admit more students when we have no space for them.” UWM’s freshman enrollment in the pre-nursing program has more than doubled in the past five years, with approximately 200 students in the current freshman class. The number of students entering the nursing major has increased 40 percent from just a few years ago. The college now has three to four candidates for each spot in the major program, which starts in the students’ junior year, Dean-Baar notes.

While the general nursing shortage has affected the number of nurses on college faculties, classroom capacity and limits on clinical resources in the community for educating student nurses are more immediate factors that necessitate limiting enrollment, says Dean-Baar.

The decision to close admissions to the undergraduate pre-nursing program does not affect the college’s master’s, doctoral or R.N. completion programs, Dean-Baar stresses. “We will continue to admit nurses who are seeking advanced degrees.”

UWM’s Department of Enrollment Services informed high school guidance counselors earlier this year that there was a strong possibility that nursing admissions would close early, according to Beth L. Weckmueller, UWM’s director of enrollment services.

The department also has been communicating with all students who have indicated an interest in the nursing program to make them aware of the possible early close for pre-nursing admissions. Nursing and Enrollment Services websites and other communications also will be updated to reflect the closing of admissions to this program.

Applications must be submitted and complete – with all transcripts and other necessary supporting documentation received – by March 1 to be considered for this coming fall, Weckmueller says. After March 1, qualified applicants will be offered admission to the UWM College of Letters and Science, with the opportunity to transfer into the pre-nursing program after completing at least 15 credits of an appropriate preparatory curriculum. (See http://cfprod.imt.uwm.edu/nursing/academics/ for specific information about these transfer requirements.) Students may begin applying for the 2006-2007 academic year pre-nursing program as of Sept. 15, 2005.

The College of Nursing will hold its spring Open House for prospective undergraduate and graduate students as planned on Saturday, March 12, says Dean-Baar. The undergraduate program generally attracts high school juniors who are just beginning to plan for college, and students who already have been admitted, rather than high school seniors still looking at admission for the 2005-06 academic year.

“We certainly want to continue to reach out to these prospective students and make sure they are aware of our requirements well before the start of the next application cycle,” Dean-Baar says.

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(CONTACT: Susan Dean-Baar, 414-229-5468, or Beth Weckmueller, 414-229-6164)