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 2020 Average Undergraduate Class Size: 32
2019-20 Annual Student Credit Hours: 1,155,647
Fall 2020 Headcount Enrollment
Undergraduate 31,650
Wisconsin Resident 17,618
Minnesota Reciprocity 2,802
Other Non-Resident 11,230
Graduate 9,311
Special 1,935
Professional 2,644
Total 45,540
New Freshmen (Fall 2020)
Applicants 45,941
Admits 26,289
Enrolled Students 7,306
Admit Rate 57.2%
Yield Rate 27.8%
2018-19 International Study Abroad Participants 2,547
2019-20 Degrees Awarded
Bachelor’s 7,459
Master’s 2,314
Research Doctorate 738
Professional/Clinical Doctorate 602
Average Undergraduate Time to Degree
Elapsed Calendar Years 3.92
Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates
1st-Year Retention Rate 95.2%
4-Year Graduation Rate 71.2%
6-Year Graduation Rate 88.5%
Academic Year 2020-21 Tuition & Fees
Undergraduate Resident $10,742
Ranks 10th among Big Ten publics
Undergraduate Non-Resident $38,640
Ranks 3rd among Big Ten publics
Expected Total Cost of Attendance for Undergraduates in 2019-20
Residents $27,158
Non-Residents $55,574
Fall 2020 Faculty and Staff Head Count
Faculty 2,321
Limited Staff 664
Instructional Academic Staff 2,751
Other Academic Staff 8,061
University Staff 4,428
Post-Degree Training Staff 1,000
Graduate Assistants 5,161
Total 24,398
NSF Research Expenditures (FY 2019)
Total Research Expenditures $1,297.3M
Federally Funded Expenditures $608.9M
Non-Federal Expenditures $688.4M
National Research Expenditure Rank 8th
Big Ten Research Expenditure Rank 2nd
Technology Transfer (Number in FY 2019)
U.S. Patents Issued 182
Licenses and Options Yielding Income 658
Licensing Income $16.4M
UW Foundation (FY 2019)
Total Endowment $3,152.6M
Payments to/for UW-Madison $275.4M
Wisconsin Alumni Association
Total Living Alumni 461,996
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Total Endowment (FY 2018) $2.8B
Expenditures (FY 2018) $78.5M
2019-21 Budget
State Appropriations $529.5M (15%)
Student Tuition Revenue $695.2M (20%)
Federal Programs $862.0M (25%)
Gifts, Grants, & Seg. Fees $566.0M (17%)
State Laboratory Fees $27.0M (1%)
Auxiliary Enterprises $528.6M (15%)
Operations Receipts $209.2M (6%)
Total $3,417.5M (100%)
Inventory of Land Acres
Main Campus 938
Arboretum 1,262
Experimental farms and stations 5,924
Off-campus properties 1,646
Total 9,770