MADISON — The University of Wisconsin–Madison remains a top destination for talented students from the state, the nation and the world, with a record-setting 65,933 applicants for this year’s fall freshman class. The university enrolled 8,516 freshmen, its second-largest freshman class. It also welcomed 1,375 new transfer students to campus this fall.
“We are thrilled that these exceptional students have chosen UW–Madison as their higher-education home,” says Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin. “In return, we commit to providing them with what has been this university’s hallmark for 175 years — a world-class education that prepares students to take on society’s toughest challenges and become transformative leaders in their professions and their communities.”
“We are also proud,” Mnookin adds, “to welcome so many students from Wisconsin and to be able to remove financial barriers for those who may not otherwise be able to attend UW–Madison.”
More than 1,200 freshmen and new transfer students from Wisconsin will have their full tuition — and often much more — covered by one of the university’s financial aid initiatives for home-state Badgers.
Expanded outreach and recruiting
New recruiting and outreach efforts by the university include the College for Rural Wisconsin, which works to increase college access for rural, farm and small-town students in Wisconsin, and a dedicated regional and international recruiting team with members based in six regions across the country and outreach efforts around the globe. The university also launched the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise Program.
“Through our increased recruiting efforts and our holistic application review process, we will continue to find remarkable Badgers who are poised to find success at UW-Madison and contribute to our vibrant community,” says Derek Kindle, vice provost for enrollment management.
Allison Wagner, founding executive director of All-In Milwaukee, a higher education nonprofit, says UW–Madison has been a terrific partner in supporting exceptional students from diverse, low-income neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Now in its seventh year, All-In Milwaukee has its largest cohort of Badger freshmen this fall at 52, for a total of 145 students affiliated with the organization currently on campus. Most are first-generation college students.
“UW–Madison works with us to recruit diverse students and then helps build a true community for them on campus,” says Wagner, a UW–Madison alumna. “From my perspective, I see a deep commitment on the part of the university’s leadership to making sure that more students from Milwaukee can take advantage of Wisconsin’s flagship public university and succeed once they are there.”
Race and ethnicity
This year’s freshman class is the first since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an applicant’s race could no longer be considered in college admissions decisions. UW–Madison had previously considered race as one of many factors in a holistic admissions process that focused first and foremost on a candidate’s academic strength.
As predicted by outcomes at universities that were prohibited from using race in the admissions process before UW–Madison, the Supreme Court decision impacted the racial and ethnic makeup of the incoming class.
The percentage of underrepresented students of color in the freshman class dropped by 3.7 percentage points (to 14.3% this year from 18% last year). The category includes domestic students who identify as African American/Black, Vietnamese, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Hispanic/Latino(a), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaska Native. The racial demographics of international students are not included in these totals. Prior to this year, the percentage of underrepresented students of color in the freshman class had consistently increased for several years, peaking last year at 18%.
The percentage of students of color in the freshman class dropped by 3.2 percentage points (to 27.3% this year from 30.5% last year). The category includes all the domestic students in the underrepresented group plus other domestic students who identify as Asian.
“Though declines are disappointing, I want to be clear that our commitment to these students and their communities remains steadfast,” Mnookin says. “We are fully committed to further efforts to build a campus community that welcomes people from all identities, lived experiences, perspectives and beliefs, and to do this work in ways that comply with the law and align with our mission and our values.”
Tribal initiative
This is the first academic year for the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise Program, announced by Chancellor Mnookin last December. It offers financial support to cover the full cost of pursuing an undergraduate degree for Wisconsin residents who are enrolled members of federally recognized Wisconsin Indian tribes. The commitment covers not only tuition and fees but also housing, meals, books and other educational expenses.
“When I first heard about it, I remember thinking it was so nice that it was happening because a lot of Native kids can’t afford to go to college and finances tend to be a bit of an issue,” says Juno O’Connor, a freshman from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. “I think it will mean that more Native kids will be able to go to college.”
O’Connor, a history major who excelled in Academic Decathlon competitions in high school, is one of 22 freshmen receiving the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise. Nine new transfer students and 42 continuing undergraduates also are covered by the initiative, for a total of 73 undergraduates in the inaugural year.
Wisconsin focus
The tribal initiative joins Bucky’s Tuition Promise and Bucky’s Pell Pathway in making an education at the state’s flagship public university more affordable for Wisconsin residents. Bucky’s Tuition Promise covers tuition and segregated fees for students whose household adjusted gross income is $65,000 or less. Bucky’s Pell Pathway commits to meeting full financial need without loans for Badgers from low-income Wisconsin households.
This fall, there are more than 1,200 freshmen and new transfer students covered by the three initiatives — one in four Wisconsin resident students new to campus. Bucky’s Tuition Promise has helped more than 6,500 students attend UW-Madison since its inception in 2018. Bucky’s Pell Pathway, in its second year, has so far been awarded to about 3,750 students.
Hayden Leonard, a freshman computer engineering major from Watertown, Wisconsin, is among this year’s recipients of Bucky’s Pell Pathway. At Watertown High School, Leonard was president of the SkillsUSA chapter, a workforce development student organization. He qualified for national competitions all four years and won gold as part of a team. Leonard said he had been torn between UW–Madison and another top engineering school until UW–Madison’s superior financial aid offer came through.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Leonard says of Bucky’s Pell Pathway. “It was the deciding factor. It’s amazing not to have to worry about finances.”
UW–Madison is once again exceeding its commitment to enroll a minimum of 3,600 new Wisconsin resident freshmen. This year’s figure of 3,825 is especially significant given the stagnant number of Wisconsin high school graduates and the decreasing number of Wisconsin high school graduates pursuing post-secondary education.
A separate Board of Regents enrollment policy measures UW–Madison’s commitment to the state by requiring the university to enroll annually at least 5,200 new undergraduate students (new freshmen and new transfers) who are Wisconsin residents or Minnesota reciprocity students based on a three-year rolling average. The university exceeds this with its most recent average of 5,616.
By the numbers
Total enrollment: A record 52,126 students, up 2.9% from 50,633 last year.
Freshman applicants: A record 65,933, up 3.8% from 63,537 last year.
Freshman class enrollment: 8,516, up 6.9%, from 7,966 students last year.
Freshman class by race/ethnicity: The percentage of Black students enrolled dropped to 2.1% from 3% last year; Hispanic/Latino(a) enrollment dropped to 8.5% from 10%; Asian enrollment dropped to 11.8% from 12%, though the number of Asian freshmen rose; “two or more races” enrollment dropped to 4.7% from 5.2%; white enrollment increased to 60.4% from 58%. The percentage of freshmen who declined to provide their race rose to 4.2% from 3.2%.
The number of students identifying solely as American Indian/Alaska Native students in the freshman class decreased from 22 last year to 13 this year. (Note: Many Native students identify as more than one race.)
New transfer students: 1,375, up 21.8% from 1,129 last year.
More than 750 freshmen and new transfer students are recipients of Bucky’s Tuition Promise this fall. About 1,150 are recipients of Bucky’s Pell Pathway, and 31 are recipients of the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise Program. (Note: Some students qualify for more than one program, so there is some overlap in the numbers.)
The percentage of students in the freshman class who are eligible for federal Pell grants, a significant driver in access to higher education for lower-income students, rose to 20.9% from 16.7% last year.
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