The Fast Facts publication is a small, pocket-sized brochure providing an overview of facts about the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fast Facts is intended to be a companion of the annual Data Digest, and contains a selection of facts and statistics from the full digest. The content of the Fast Facts brochure is available below or you can view the one-page PDF here. If you are in need of pamphlets, please Contact Us for assistance.
University Chancellor: Rebecca Blank (www.chancellor.wisc.edu)
Number of Schools and Colleges: 13
Fall 2018 Average Undergraduate Class Size: 31
2018-19 Annual Student Credit Hours: 1,121,156
Fall 2019 Headcount Enrollment
Undergraduate 31,185
Wisconsin Resident 17,503
Minnesota Reciprocity 2,760
Other Non-Resident 10,922
Graduate 9,299
Special 2,271
Professional 2,562
Total 45,317
New Freshmen (Fall 2019)
Applicants 43,921
Admits 23,887
Enrolled Students 7,550
Admit Rate 54.4%
Yield Rate 31.6%
2017-18 International Study Abroad Participants 2,410
2018-19 Degrees Awarded
Bachelor’s 7,131
Master’s 2,314
Research Doctorate 815
Professional/Clinical Doctorate 653
Average Undergraduate Time to Degree
Elapsed Calendar Years 3.96
Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates
1st-Year Retention Rate 95.2%
4-Year Graduation Rate 69.3%
6-Year Graduation Rate 87.6%
Academic Year 2019-20 Tuition & Fees
Undergraduate Resident $10,725
Ranks 10th among Big Ten publics
Undergraduate Non-Resident $37,785
Ranks 3rd among Big Ten publics
Expected Total Cost of Attendance for Undergraduates in 2019-20
Residents $26,133
Non-Residents $53,193
Fall 2019 Faculty and Staff Head Count
Faculty 2,266
Limited Staff 649
Instructional Academic Staff 2,745
Other Academic Staff 7,728
University Staff 4,477
Post-Degree Training Staff 1,016
Graduate Assistants 5,036
Total 22,917
NSF Research Expenditures (FY 2018)
Total Research Expenditures $1,205.5M
Federally Funded Expenditures $574.1M
Non-Federal Expenditures $631.4M
National Research Expenditure Rank 8th
Big Ten Research Expenditure Rank 2nd
Technology Transfer (Number in FY 2018)
U.S. Patents Issued 158
Licenses and Options Yielding Income 654
Licensing Income $28.6M
UW Foundation (FY 2018)
Total Endowment $2,985.3M
Payments to/for UW-Madison $279.5M
Wisconsin Alumni Association
Total Living Alumni 451,446
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Total Endowment (FY 2018) $2.8B
Expenditures (FY 2018) $78.5M
2018-19 Budget
State Appropriations $456.9M (14%)
Student Tuition Revenue $642.1M (20%)
Federal Programs $906.3M (28%)
Gifts, Grants, & Seg. Fees $581.8M (18%)
State Laboratory Fees $26.9M (1%)
Auxiliary Enterprises $411.9M (13%)
Operations Receipts $159.4M (5%)
Total $3,185.3M (100%)
Inventory of Land Acres
Main Campus 938
Arboretum 1,262
Experimental farms and stations 5,924
Off-campus properties 1,645
Total 9,769