University in United States
Madison, WI, United States
University profile
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison) is a public land-grant university and major research institution in Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. Founded in 1848, it takes public service, known as the Wisconsin Idea, as its guiding principle. It is part of the Universities of Wisconsin, a system of 13 universities across the state.
The main campus covers 939 acres in Madison. Fall 2025 enrollment was 51,822, made up of 37,198 undergraduate, 10,069 graduate, 2,560 professional and 1,995 special students. Faculty and staff number 28,017 (Fall 2025). The university has 14 schools and colleges and offers some 600 undergraduate and graduate majors and more than 9,000 courses, with an average class size of 34 (Fall 2025).
Academic units include the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Education, the College of Engineering, the School of Human Ecology, the College of Letters & Science, the School of Medicine and Public Health, the School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the Law School, the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the School of Music, the School of Social Work, the La Follette School of Public Affairs, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the Information School and the Graduate School.
Student life centres on 19 residence halls in two neighbourhoods, Lakeshore and Southeast, more than 50 dining locations, 1,062 student organizations, 23 NCAA programs and 275 study-abroad programs. The Wisconsin Union, the Chazen Museum of Art, the Hamel Music Center and the Cinematheque are on campus. First-Year Interest Groups place students in residential learning communities built around shared themes.
More than 7,000 international (F-1 and J-1 visa) students from over 130 countries study at UW–Madison. International Student Services supports visas, I-20 and DS-2019 documents, and arrival. International students apply through the same first-year or transfer process as everyone else, and there is no separate international application.
2025-26 tuition and fees: undergraduate resident $12,186; undergraduate nonresident $44,210, with an additional $330 fee for incoming freshmen, $256 for new transfer students, and additional tuition for business, nursing and engineering students.
UW–Madison offers both need-based and merit-based aid. Need-based aid is determined through the FAFSA (school code 003895), with a December 1 priority deadline; the CSS Profile applies to some entering students. Institutional programs include Bucky's Tuition Promise (free tuition and segregated fees for Wisconsin residents with household AGI of $65,000 or less), Bucky's Pell Pathway, the Badger Promise, the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise and BANNER (Badger Aid for Nonresidents, for low-income nonresident Pell-eligible first-year students, meeting institutional financial need for four years). Scholarships are managed through the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH); all incoming students with an active NetID are automatically considered for many scholarships, and others require a separate WiSH application, typically opening in November and closing by February 1.
International students on a visa are not eligible for financial aid through the Office of Student Financial Aid, nor for U.S. federal or Wisconsin state aid. There are no scholarships specifically for international students, though they may apply for many WiSH scholarships; scholarship funds for incoming students are limited and a first-year award is unlikely. The King-Morgridge Scholars Program is a four-year full scholarship for students from secondary schools in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, South Asia and Southeast Asia, covering tuition and fees, room and board, health insurance, airfare and a stipend; six students are admitted each year. Early Action application is due November 1 and the WiSH application November 15. International students must document funds for tuition, fees and living expenses to receive an I-20; the living expense estimate is $28,188 per academic year.
King-Morgridge Scholars Program →
BANNER (Badger Aid for Nonresidents) →
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View scholarships for University of Wisconsin-Madison →Applicants apply through the Common Application or the Universities of Wisconsin Application; the university prefers neither. Review is holistic, with no formulas or charts, and focuses on grades earned and course rigor (honors, IB, AP where available), then leadership, community contribution and achievement in the arts, athletics and other areas. Minimum high-school units are 17 credits: English 4, mathematics 3 (including algebra, geometry and advanced mathematics), social science 3, natural science 3 and electives 4. Two years of one world language are highly recommended. The application requires two essays, course and grade information for grades 9-12, a letter of recommendation and the application fee.
ACT or SAT scores are optional for applicants through the spring 2028 term (application deadline October 1, 2027); applicants are not disadvantaged for omitting them, and the choice made on the application is final.
Fall deadlines: Early Action (non-binding) application November 1, materials November 9, decision on or before January 31; Regular Decision application January 15, materials January 22, decision on or before March 31. Spring Regular Decision: application October 1, materials October 15, decision on or before December 31. Applications open August 1; the national reply date is May 1. The application fee is $80 (US), non-refundable, with fee waivers for financial hardship.
Transfer applicants need at least 24 transferable semester hours of college-level work after high-school graduation; AP, A-Level, IB and CLEP credit does not count toward the 24, and freshman-level transfers are not admitted. Applications are made through the Universities of Wisconsin Application. Fall Priority: application February 1, materials February 16, decision on or before March 31. Fall Regular: application March 1, materials March 15, decision on or before April 30. Spring Regular: application October 1, materials October 15, decision on or before December 31. Transfer credit is evaluated after admission.
International students apply as first-year or transfer applicants under the same deadlines. Official transcripts for the equivalent of grades 9-12 and any external examinations or credentials needed to complete secondary school are required, with official translations for non-English documents; country-specific document lists are provided (for example SSC and HSC for Bangladesh). Applicants educated in non-English-speaking countries must submit an official TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English Test score unless English was the language of instruction in all four years of secondary school. Minimums: Duolingo English Test 115; IELTS Academic 6.5; TOEFL iBT 80 for tests taken on or before 1/20/26 (TOEFL code 1846). Scores are not superscored and must be no more than two years old. IB HL English, AP English, ACT, SAT, Cambridge English and PTE cannot waive the requirement. Financial documents are submitted after admission, and I-20 requests go through International Student Services once the offer is accepted. The university does not partner with agents or consultants to recruit international students.
Each graduate program has its own deadlines, admission committee and requirements above the Graduate School minimums; applicants may apply to up to three programs for the same term. The application fee is $75, plus a $6 processing fee for international applicants. Programs recommend applicants and the Graduate School makes the final decision, announced in the Application Portal. The university offers 160 master's and 108 doctoral degrees.
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