In 2024-2025 freshman class at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is the largest in the institution’s history and includes the most Wisconsin residents of any freshman class in the last 20 years. Overall, 65,933 students applied to UW-Madison for fall 2024, with 45.2% of those applicants being admitted. That includes 3,825 Wisconsin residents. Learn more here.  According to the 2024-2025 Budget in Brief , the 2024 fall freshman class of 8,516 students includes the second-highest number of Wisconsin residents ever at 3,825. This is, once again, higher than the 3,600 Wisconsin residents that UW-Madison commits to enrolling in each fall freshman class.

For students who entered UW-Madison in fall 2018, the six-year graduation rate was 89.5%. Average time to degree, an important factor in the cost of an education and student debt, was 3.86 years. See the UW-Madison facts page for more information.

In 2024-2025, out of UW-Madison’s 36,902undergraduates, 17,816 students (48%) were Wisconsin residents. Another 3,425 students (9%) were from Minnesota as part of reciprocity. A total of 15,661 students (43%) were out of state, including international students. Check out more detailed facts on page 12 of the 2024-2025 Data Digest. 

Tuition and fees are an important part of the overall cost of attending UW–Madison. Currently, 20% of the UW-Madison overall budget comes from student tuition and fees, behind Federal funding and auxiliaries as a source of university revenue. In 2022-23, tuition and fee revenue was $831 million. Learn more at Budget in Brief .

Compared with the university’s peers, UW-Madison’s in-state tuition is less than the average. UW–Madison’s total room and board fees, including meal plan, rank 13^th among the 16 schools that make up the Big Ten. UW-Madison’s 2024-2025 tuition was $11,603 for in-state students, $3,108 less expensive than the Big Ten average. Check out a detailed comparison (page 82).

Revenues from the state government totaled about 11% of UW’s overall budget in 2024-2025. Much of the funds from the UW’s other budget sources are earmarked for specific purposes, such as federal research grants or private donations for new facilities. State support and student tuition revenues primarily fund student services and faculty salaries not covered by research grants. Learn more about the UW’s changing budget landscape in the Budget in Brief. 

In 2023-2024, 56.8% of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid.  Since 2018 Bucky's Tuition Promise guarantees four years of tuition and segregated fees for any incoming freshman who is a Wisconsin resident and whose family's annual household adjusted gross income is $60,000 or less. Learn more here about UW-Madison’s commitment to keeping a degree affordable.