TUE AM News: CROWE leader says UW-Madison ‘dominates’ on graduate earnings; Legislation would give local governments more authority over short-term rentals

February 10, 2026

— The head of a UW-Madison think tank says the university “dominates” other top institutions in the state, based on a newly issued graduate earnings report.

The Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy’s recent report is titled: “Degrees of Deception: UW-Madison Leads Where Earnings Matter Most.”

It references data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard that places UW-Madison fourth in the state for graduate median incomes four years after graduation — with about $75,000 compared to $93,000 at the leading school for this measure, the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

But the CROWE report authors say these findings “mask the significant variation of earnings” across college majors, as well as differences in fields of study across institutions.

Ananth Seshadri, director of CROWE and a professor in the university’s Department of Economics, says recent headlines referencing these figures “have painted a misleading picture of college earnings in Wisconsin.” He notes the university leads earnings rankings for 48 out of 72 majors, and all 15 high-earning fields with median earnings above $96,000.

“When you look beyond aggregate medians and focus on fields of study, UW-Madison dominates,” Seshadri said in a statement on the report.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for MSOE pointed to other independent rankings showing the school’s strength in graduate earnings, while touting other measures such as admissions and post-graduation outcomes.

The CROWE report draws a comparison between UW-Madison, MSOE and Marquette University, which also ranks highly based on the aggregate median DOE figures.

“Aggregate rankings overlook major concentrations and offerings, with specialized schools like MSOE benefiting from a focus on high-paying engineering fields, while UW-Madison excels across a broader spectrum, including all top earners,” authors wrote.

They note UW-Madison graduates earn more than peers in most overlapping fields, exceeding MSOE for six of seven shared majors and beating Marquette in 17 of 28 majors. The report also points to lower tuition as evidence that UW-Madison offers “a superior return on investment” for most fields.

When asked for comment, the MSOE spokesperson noted the school “tops the charts” based on the U.S. Department of Education figures.

JoEllen Burdue, the school’s associate vice president of marketing communications, added MSOE has also been ranked No. 1 in the state by the Wall Street Journal for graduate salaries, along with being rated best in the state for return on investment by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce.

Burdue noted 96% of MSOE’s graduating class of 2024-25 were either employed in their area of study, enrolled in graduate studies or in the military. And she pointed to other considerations for prospective students, such as if there’s a waitlist for joining a given program of study.

“At MSOE, there are no wait lists, students are directly admitted to their major, and they start classes in their program their first semester,” she said in an email. “They graduate ready to hit the ground running.”

Marquette University did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

See the full report and the release.

— Legislation from Dem authors would grant political subdivisions greater authority over regulating short-term rentals.

A group of lawmakers led by Rep. Lori Palmeri of Oshkosh and Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee recently circulated a co-sponsorship memo for LRB-3050. They argue the rise in short-term rentals through services such as Airbnb and VRBO has “contributed to the housing shortage” in Wisconsin and nationally.

“These short-term rentals, which are primarily utilized for vacation lodging, have negatively affected the housing market in many areas,” bill authors wrote. “They do so by both increasing housing prices and reducing the number of available units in the area as properties are bought up to be used for vacation lodging.”

The lawmakers say this leads to fewer people being able to own a home rather than rent, which in turn drives up average rental prices in a given area.

Under current state law, local governments can’t prohibit the rental of a residence for seven consecutive days or longer, and generally can’t limit the rental of certain residential properties to fewer than 180 days in a year, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. The bill would end those limitations.

Bill authors say the change would give municipalities the ability to determine what operating period, “if any,” makes the most sense for their area.

“This will allow local municipalities another tool to combat housing market shortages based on their own unique circumstances,” they wrote in the memo.

See the bill text.

— Health officials have identified the state’s third case of the measles this year in a person who traveled through Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport to Walworth County.

The state Department of Health Services on Friday evening announced it’s investigating the measles exposure in Milwaukee County alongside the City of Milwaukee Health Department and Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services.

The new measles case is linked to a confirmed case in another state. And it isn’t connected to other confirmed cases in Waukesha or Dane counties that were announced earlier this year, according to DHS.

Meanwhile, the agency’s wastewater monitoring program has also detected measles in untreated wastewater collected in Walworth County. It’s the first measles detection in Wisconsin wastewater, the DHS says.

Travelers on flight WN 266 from Phoenix to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, as well as those who were at the airport on Jan. 29 from 10:31 p.m. to 12:31 a.m., may have been exposed to the measles, the agency’s release shows. DHS says officials are working on identifying specific people who may have been exposed.

Meanwhile, no public exposure locations have been announced for Walworth County.

Of the two earlier measles cases reported by DHS this year, one has resulted in a hospitalization, according to the agency’s measles page. Under a section on vaccination status for these cases, it currently says “data suppressed.” Since the page is updated on Tuesdays, the latest case isn’t displayed on the site.

Last year’s measles outbreak in Oconto County resulted in at least 36 cases, all among unvaccinated people. Two hospitalizations were linked to the outbreak.

See the release.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— Kurt Bauer, president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, says the group’s new report is a “warning” to state lawmakers and the gubernatorial candidates ahead of the midterms.

“Wisconsinites are competitive,” Bauer told WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “We expect to be leaders, not only in our sports teams, but on economic measures, and while we typically have been, we’re falling behind. And this is kind of a warning that we need to work together, the business community, public policymakers, to make sure that we’re competitive.”

The Wisconsin Competitiveness Report says the state “faces a shrinking population, a labor market that’s failing to grow, burdensome regulations, lagging educational performance, soaring health care costs, and a tax climate that weighs heavily on families and employers alike.

“This is no surprise, particularly on the workforce side of things, that they have been struggling to find workers for quite some time,” Bauer said. “That’s been evident in our economic studies.”

Bauer said health care costs and taxes are the most pressing issues lawmakers should address.

“The whole point of this is to make this a conversation piece in the midterm elections,” Bauer said. “We want the gubernatorial candidates talking about it. We want the legislative candidates talking about it. We want our members to read this.”

The report proposes a number of solutions, including growing the workforce, affordability, new manufacturing, reforming education and fixing health care.

“I would start on the health care side of things with transparency for pricing,” Bauer said. “Right now we’ve got a bill in the Legislature that they’re taking a look at that would have price transparency so that we can be consumers, we can make decisions based on the cost of services at hospitals right now.”

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