Options for access are growing

UW-Madison educates thousands of the state’s citizens every year by admitting some of the best and brightest students. But physical and fiscal constraints mean that we can’t accommodate every student who applies. We’ve worked hard to develop alternate routes to higher education.

  • Wisconsin is fortunate to have one of the best systems of higher education in the nation. Across the state, 13 four-year UW System campuses offer a multitude of high-quality programs and affordable resident tuition rates.
  • Every year we welcome close to 2,000 transfer students to UW-Madison. They come from a wide range of colleges and universities, but when they arrive on campus, they immediately become members of our campus community.
  • The Connections Program allows Wisconsin residents to start at two-year colleges and finish their bachelor’s degrees at UW-Madison — yet hold a distinctive UW-Madison student status from day one.
  • Students who enroll at any of the 13 UW Colleges campuses may enroll at UW-Madison as upper-level students under the long-standing Guaranteed Transfer Agreement.
  • A new “transfer contract” program guarantees admission to students transferring from the three Wisconsin technical colleges with college transfer programs. These three institutions are Madison Area Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Nicolet College in Rhinelander.
  • UW-Madison has developed an innovative pre-college pipeline for Wisconsin’s students of color, most of whom would be the first in their families to attend college. Called PEOPLE, the program currently serves middle and high school students in the Madison, Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha public school districts, and the Ho – Chunk, Menominee, and Lac Courte Oreilles Nations, to be joined by Lac du Flambeau and Bad River Nations this year.
  • The UW System has a detailed plan, called the Growth Agenda, to increase access and affordability for UW students, and boost economic growth for the state.