UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County to close

BARABOO / PLATTEVILLE / MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – The University of Wisconsin System announces another campus closing. It was announced Friday that operations will cease at the UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County Campus as of May 22, 2026.

Notifying the community

An email sent to UW-Platteville Community members by Chancellor Tammy Evetovich, stated “This will not impact in-person degree instructional programs at the main Platteville campus. Our top priority is supporting students, faculty, and staff through this change, and we have created a dedicated transition team to assist them through this process.”

According to a UW Press Release, UW-Platteville is set to help students transition seamlessly to its main campus; the university will develop individualized plans for staff and faculty.

The Baraboo Sauk County Campus opened in 1968. Enrollment is currently 178 with class sizes averaging 14.

The closure is a result of continuously declining enrollment at the campus.

Location reaction

Dale Schultz was a Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 17^th district and served as Senate Majority Leader from 2005 until 2007 was recently on Civic Media’s The Todd Albaugh Show. Schultz said it’s the students that pay the price each time a campus closes.

Dale Schultz went on to say with each closing the community, usually a rural one, feels the impact.

Recent Closures

It’s been two years since the Universities of Wisconsin closed the Richland Campus.

Along with the 2022 announcement of the Richland closing, the closing of UW–Oshkosh branch campuses was announced in 2023 and in 2024 UW–Milwaukee branch campuses were closed affecting Washington County and Waukesha.

Before the recent closures, the only UW college campus to close was UW–Medford in 1980.

Future of the Baraboo campus location

While the university operations are ending, the campus buildings will be returned to Sauk County, and there is a plan to find other ways to use them to serve the region.

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