Milwaukee Direct Admit program hopes to double number of MPS students this year

Kilia Mathis dreamed of going to college since she was a little girl. But she wasn’t exactly sure how to get there. 

Kilia is good at math and wants to go to school for kinesiology or physical therapy. Now a senior at Milwaukee Public Schools’ MacDowell Montessori School, Kilia has many options ahead of her. And it only took 10 minutes. 

She applied to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Milwaukee Area Technical College through Milwaukee Direct Admit, a program of the M-Cubed partnership those campuses have with Milwaukee Public Schools.

She learned about it from her counselor during her junior year. 

Kilia was accepted to UW-Milwaukee and MATC through M-Cubed. Through the UW’s Direct Admit Wisconsin program, she was accepted to a handful of other four-year schools. 

“Right now, I haven’t decided where to go, but my top two choices are (UW-Milwaukee) or Marquette,” Kilia said. “I would recommend it to anybody who is intrigued about college, because it’s easy to apply. All you need is a student ID.”

In its first year — the 2023-24 school year — nearly 900 MPS juniors were admitted to UW-Milwaukee or MATC through Milwaukee Direct Admit. The program is a streamlined application process that directly sends a students’ high school transcripts to UW-Milwaukee and MATC.

This school year, college access coordinators at the three campuses anticipate at least 1,500 juniors from MPS — or about 35 percent of the class of 2026 — will apply to and attend UW-Milwaukee or MATC. 

In a school district where 84 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged, creating a seamless path to higher education opens up new opportunities for Milwaukee families. 

Direct Admit Wisconsin is a similar initiative by the Universities of Wisconsin that offers admission to qualifying high school students to 10 UW campuses: UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout, UW-Superior and UW-Whitewater.

MPS college access coordinator Ericca Pollack said about 50 percent of Milwaukee students who enroll in college do so at UW-Milwaukee or MATC.

“We know, unfortunately, many students receive messages that college isn’t the right fit for them,” Pollack said. “We’ve worked diligently through M-Cubed, starting with ninth and 10th grade visiting MATC and (UW-Milwaukee) to try on the college going culture.” 

Through the M-Cubed Academic and Career Planning program, 10,000 MPS freshmen and sophomores have toured UW-Milwaukee and MATC.

Marc Young, who leads recruitment and admissions at UW-Milwaukee, said the streamlined application process that connects MPS students with the college takes the stress out of applying, especially for first-generation college applicants.