KENOSHA, Wis. — A Universities of Wisconsin budget proposal announced Monday includes funding that will accelerate the expansion of two key UW–Parkside health care practitioner programs: The Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and the Master of Science Physician Assistant.
“Rural and underserved communities in Wisconsin are losing access to care, and that gap will not close on its own,” UW–Parkside Chancellor Lynn D. Akey said. “We are asking for investment in the UW institutions like Parkside so we can address those critical needs.”
The proposal, called Healthy Wisconsin, seeks a $90 million state investment across Wisconsin’s 13 public universities with the goal of training 35,000 new health care professionals over the next 10 years. Each university identified programs where added state support would produce more graduates in shortage fields.
For UW–Parkside, that investment targets mental health and primary care in southeastern Wisconsin. The university draws most of its students from and sends most of its graduates into Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties, a corridor of roughly 475,000 residents that runs from dense lakefront neighborhoods in Kenosha and Racine to farm communities in the west.
At Parkside, this funding would directly target key bottlenecks limiting program growth—specifically clinical placement coordination and instructional infrastructure. Because physician assistant and counseling students require supervised clinical training, expanding student capacity relies entirely on securing additional placement sites and preceptors.
“We have the students. We have the programs. We have partners desperate for more trained health care graduates,” said Matt Cecil, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. “What we need is the capacity to say yes to more of them.”
Those graduates stay close to home. Nearly 89 percent of UW–Parkside’s incoming first-year students come from Wisconsin, and 91 percent of Universities of Wisconsin graduates who enrolled as Wisconsin residents are still living in the state three years after graduation.
“Like all the UWs, our university draws a large majority of its students from Wisconsin. When they graduate, they stay here,” Cecil said. “Every seat we can add in those programs will likely become one more Wisconsin health care provider.”
Universities of Wisconsin Interim President Renee Wachter set a goal of adding 35,000 health care providers in the state in ten years beginning with this budget proposal. “When health care professionals are in short supply, it can be harder to get an appointment, harder to get timely care, and harder for communities to thrive,” Wachter said. “This proposal strengthens the health care professional pipeline and involves all UW universities to make it happen.”
About UW–Parkside
Since its founding in 1968 The University of Wisconsin–Parkside has been a trusted partner for the region’s higher educational needs, empowering students to thrive, advancing applied knowledge, and developing talent for the future. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as certificates and pre-professional programs, designed to foster personal and professional growth through real-world and impactful learning experiences. Situated in the thriving Chicago–Milwaukee corridor, UW–Parkside connects students directly to regional industry leaders, top-tier internships, and career-defining networks. UW–Parkside is dedicated to educational excellence, community partnership, and student success across southeastern Wisconsin. Learn more at uwp.edu.