The UW-Madison freshman class has the second largest number of in-state residents since 2001, with 3,750 of the 6,264 enrolled students coming from Wisconsin.
The total class is the third largest in UW’s history, according to numbers released by the university’s registrar.
“We strive to get distribution from many parts of the state,” Steve Hahn, interim vice provost for Enrollment Management, said. “We don’t want all urban or all rural students, but students from all walks of life in Wisconsin.”
Of this year’s freshman class, 71.9 percent of residents who applied to UW-Madison were accepted.
“We place a high priority on admitting the best and brightest among Wisconsin high school graduates, and these numbers reflect that commitment,” Hahn said.
In 2001, there were 3,947 residents enrolled. Last year’s numbers were the highest since, with 3,843 in-state students.
“Wisconsin as a whole sends us great students, and we think that every one of them can succeed here,” said Hahn.
In 2012, the UW System Board of Regents raised the out-of-state enrollment cap from 25 to 27.5 percent, which had financial benefits for UW-Madison, as out-of-state tuition is nearly double that of Wisconsin residents.
Although the 2013 and 2014 freshman classes included the highest numbers of in-state students during the preceding decade, the percentage of enrolled Wisconsinites remains steady. The 2013 freshman class had the third-highest percentage of residents, at 60.62 percent, behind 2009 and 2004, when 61.47 percent of the freshmen were residents. This year falls directly in the middle of data from the 13-year period, with 59.87 percent of the freshmen hailing from Wisconsin.
