University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison Featured Rankings
- #1 Best Research Universities in Wisconsin
- #1 Best Grad Schools in Wisconsin
- #1 Most Affordable Colleges in Wisconsin 2022
- #1 Wisconsin's Best Online Colleges 2022
- #1 Best Public Colleges in Wisconsin 2022
- #1 Most Influential Colleges in Hockey Today
- #1 Most Influential US Universities by State
- #1 Wisconsin's Best Online Master's Degrees
- #1 Best Colleges in Wisconsin
- #2 Most Affordable No GRE Online PhD Degree Programs
- #2 20 Fastest Accelerated Online PhD in English Doctorate Programs 2023
- #2 20 Best Online Master's of Speech Pathology Degree Programs
- #5 Best Online Sociology PhD Degree Programs
- #6 Best Online MBAs Wisconsin
- #6 Social Work Research Universities
- #6 Best Value Colleges
- #7 Most Affordable Colleges in the U.S. 2022
- #7 Best Public Colleges
- #7 Best Public Grad Schools
- #10 Nursing Research Universities
- #11 The Most Influential Colleges in Football Today
- #13 Most Influential Colleges in Sports Today
- #15 The Best Traditional MBA Programs
- #19 The Most Influential Colleges in Track & Field Today
- #23 Best US Universities 2025
- #23 Best Grad Schools 2025
- #53 Best Universities World 2025
About University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin was founded at the same time that the eastern part of the Wisconsin Territory became the new state of Wisconsin and entered the union. In accord with its charter, the new state university was physically located in the state capital, Madison.
Today, the University of Wisconsin System has grown into an immense network of more than 180,000 students distributed across some 26 campuses. However, the original Madison location still remains the flagship campus with the largest student body (around 44,000 students) and the most distinguished faculty. The university’s $3 billion endowment allows it to rank third in the US for expenditures on fundamental research.
The university is still growing rapidly, with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (for biomedical research), the Wisconsin Energy Institute (for alternative energy development), and the Human Ecology Building all having opened within the past ten years.
In 2007, the university’s Morgridge Center for Public Service undertook a five-year, fund-raising drive to take advantage of $1 million in annual matching funds that the Morgridge family made available to increase support for the Center’s programs and services, especially in the areas of community-based research and engaged scholarship.
Historically, a number of important scientific investigations have been conducted at Wisconsin, including:
- the “single-grain experiment” (1907–1911) to determine whether cows could live on a diet restricted to one kind of grain, marking the debut of modern nutrition science
- experiments on the diet of rats conducted by Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis in 1913, which led to the discovery of the first vitamin (vitamin A)
- experiments by Karl Paul Link in 1924 on “sweet clover disease” in cattle, which led to the discovery of anticoagulant compounds such as warfarin and heparin
- experiments by Har Gobind Khorana in the early 1960s, which led to the decipherment of the RNA code controlling protein synthesis
- research by Howard Temin, also in the 1960s, which resulted in the discovery of the genetic composition of viruses, as well as the co-discovery (with David Baltimore) of reverse transcriptase
- James Thomson’s synthesis in 1998 of the first line of human embryonic stem cells
Overall, some 19 Wisconsin-connected people have received the Nobel Prize, including:
- John Bardeen—physics
- Alan MacDiarmid and Paul Boyer—chemistry
- Joshua Lederberg and Edward Tatum—physiology or medicine (in addition to Elmer McCollum, Har Gobind Khorana, and Howard Temin, already mentioned)
Other prominent Wisconsin folks include:
- Naturalist, John Muir
- Conservationist, Aldo Leopold
- Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright
- Aviation pioneer, Charles Lindberg
- Richard T. Ely and John R. Commons, founders of the Wisconsin School of Economics
- Biochemist, Albert Lehninger
- Mathematician and population geneticist, Motoo Kimura
- Anthropologist, Clyde Kluckhohn
- Actors Fredric March, Agnes Moorehead, & Gena Rowlands
- Poet, Delmore Schwartz
- Playwright, Lorraine Hansberry
- Novelists, Marjorie Rawlings, Eudora Welty, Saul Bellow, & Joyce Carol Oates
- Glass artist, Dale Chihuly
- 46th Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney
According to Wikipedia, The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison is the official state university of Wisconsin and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It was the first public university established in Wisconsin and remains the oldest and largest public university in the state. UW–Madison became a land-grant institution in 1866. The main campus, located on the shores of Lake Mendota, includes four National Historic Landmarks. The university also owns and operates the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, located south of the main campus, which is also a National Historic Landmark.
University of Wisconsin–Madison's Online Degrees
University of Wisconsin–Madison Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
Annual Applications | Acceptance | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
60,214 | 49% | 89% | 1425 | 29 |
How Much Does University of Wisconsin–Madison Cost To Attend?
Tuition (in-state) | Fees (in-state) |
---|---|
$9,273 | $1,523 |
How Much Do University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduates Make?
If you graduate from University of Wisconsin–Madison, then you can expect to earn an average of $68,000 per year. You also have a 93% chance of being employed after 10 years.
University of Wisconsin–Madison's Demographics
Demographic data is for full-time, on-campus students.
Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
---|---|---|
51,296 | 37,571 | 13,725 |
Where is University of Wisconsin–Madison?
University of Wisconsin–Madison is located at 500 Lincoln Dr, Madison WI 53706-1380
How Safe is University of Wisconsin–Madison?
Madison has a violent crime rate of less than .01% and a property crime rate of less than .01%.
What Is University of Wisconsin–Madison Known For?
University of Wisconsin–Madison is known for it's academic work in the following disciplines:
- Sociology
- History
- Earth Sciences
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Anthropology
- Biology
- Psychology
- Computer Science
- Economics
- Engineering
- Communications
- Political Science
- Education
- Literature
- Philosophy
- Law
- Social Work
- Medical
- Business
- Nursing
- Religious Studies
University of Wisconsin–Madison's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Who Are University of Wisconsin–Madison's Most Influential Alumni?
University of Wisconsin–Madison's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Psychology, Sociology, and History. Here are some of University of Wisconsin–Madison's most famous alumni:
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- An American architect .
- Carl Rogers
- An American psychologist.
- Edward Witten
- An American theoretical physicist.
- John Bardeen
- An American physicist and engineer.
- Charles Lindbergh
- An American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.
- Abraham Maslow
- An American psychologist .
- Jim Lovell
- An American astronaut.
- Jack Kilby
- An American electrical engineer .
- Joshua Lederberg
- An American molecular biologist .
- Warren Weaver
- An American mathematician .
- C. Wright Mills
- An American sociologist .
- Jayaprakash Narayan
- An Indian independence activist and political leader.
Who Are University of Wisconsin–Madison's Most Influential Faculty?
University of Wisconsin–Madison's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Psychology, Sociology, and History. Here are some of University of Wisconsin–Madison's most famous alumni:
- Jordan Ellenberg
- An American mathematician .
- Matthew Desmond
- An American sociologist.
- Melanie Wood
- An American mathematician.
- Lawrence Landweber
- An American writer and academic.
- Sau Lan Wu
- An American physicist.
- Tor Wager
- An American psychologist.
- Alice Goffman
- An American sociologist.
- Anne Condon
- An Irish-Canadian computer scientist.
- Jacquelyn Gill
- A Paleoecologist.
- Quan Barry
- An American writer.
- Shelly Grabe
- An American social psychologist.
- Ryan G. Van Cleave
- An American poet.