by our College Data Analytics TeamUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison is a public institution in Madison, Wisconsin enrolling 36,902 undergraduates. It accepts 45% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 90%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #18 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks #18 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
University of Wisconsin-Madison was awarded 1564 badges in the 2027 rankings.
UW - Madison is ranked #18 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
Within the state, UW - Madison holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Wisconsin ranking.
See all of the rankings for University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The acceptance rate at University of Wisconsin-Madison is a competitive 45%, so make sure you take your application seriously when putting it together. Even leaving out a minor detail could be a reason to move you to the rejection pile.
About 15% of students accepted to UW - Madison submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 670 and 740. Math scores were between 710 and 780.
UW - Madison received ACT scores from 29% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 29 and 33.
Learn more about University of Wisconsin-Madison admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at University of Wisconsin-Madison is about average at 18 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at University of Wisconsin-Madison is 86%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 96% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like University of Wisconsin-Madison enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at UW - Madison for first-time, full-time students is 90%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
During the most recent academic year, there were 36,902 undergraduates at UW - Madison.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The average net price of UW - Madison is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,200 | $4,101 | $8,134 | $17,763 | $27,292 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UW - Madison, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At UW - Madison, approximately 20% of students took out student loans averaging $6,248 a year. That adds up to $24,992 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison make about $73,792 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates since it is 50% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at University of Wisconsin-Madison make the most money.
University of Wisconsin-Madison is a public institution located in Madison, Wisconsin. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Contact information for University of Wisconsin-Madison are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 500 Lincoln Dr, Madison, WI 53706-1380 |
| Phone: | 6082632400 |
| Website: | www.wisc.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Madison |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/UWMadison |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/UWMadison |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 29 majors graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 22,000 | NA |
| Computer Information Systems | 1,446 | $72,878 |
| Economics | 982 | $48,053 |
| Data Science. | 862 | NA |
| Finance & Financial Management | 638 | $61,474 |
| General Psychology | 637 | $31,572 |
| Ethnic Studies | 596 | $29,857 |
| General Biology | 576 | $30,913 |
| Political Science & Government | 494 | $35,789 |
| Natural Resources Conservation | 460 | $27,422 |
10,378 students took at least one online class at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Curious how schools stack up against UW - Madison? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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