MILWAUKEE – Nearly 100 members of the class of 2023 got a head start on their higher education hopes and dreams thanks to a unique, innovative partnership between Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
M³ (pronounced M-cubed) College Connections was established in 2019. This year, 94 Milwaukee Public Schools high school seniors participated in the program, and many of them attended a graduation ceremony June 7 at UWM’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center.
Students in M³ College Connections attend college classes and earn college credits while still enrolled in high school. Students take college-level courses in English and mathematics at MATC, and educational psychology and ethnic studies courses at UWM. Students also can take nursing or science courses at MATC.
The dual enrollment initiative prepares students for college-level work and saves them money. The seniors, who came from 15 different MPS high schools, completed up to 21 college credits during their final year of high school through the partnership.
With the average cost of a college credit at $300, the 94 students saved more than $500,000 in tuition, according to MPS Superintendent Keith Posley. Since M³ courses started, 529 high school students have earned 6,756 college credits, he added.
MATC President Vicki J. Martin, Ph.D., addressed the graduates at the ceremony, along with Posley and Phyllis King, UWM’s associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.
Jacarrie Carr, an MPS and UWM alum who is CEO of the nonprofit Jacarrie’s Kicks for Kids, was the keynote speaker.
Find out about M³ College Connections
About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 25,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 170 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.