The university is committed to helping students — particularly the largest UW-Madison freshman class in history — afford college through scholarships, Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in her blog post Wednesday.
Blank highlighted Badger Promise, a new program that gives free tuition to first-generation college students who transfer to the school from two-year colleges in the UW System.
“First-generation students are particularly likely to start at two-year colleges, in part because they are far more likely to come from lower-income families,” Blank said. “Badger Promise allows those who demonstrate their ability to transfer to UW-Madison to come here and complete a degree from the flagship university at a much-reduced cost.”
Another source of fundraising is the All Ways Forward campaign which has raised enough money to fund approximately 1,000 new undergraduate and graduate students, Blank said.
These programs are necessary for helping the growing class sizes; this year is the largest freshman class in the history of the university. UW-Madison has made a commitment to the Board of Regents to take no fewer than 3,600 Wisconsin residents for every freshman class. This year’s class has 3,746 Wisconsin residents, which Blank said is higher than the average in the last 10 years.
“We are doing expanded outreach to Wisconsin high school students with high test scores, who may be considering colleges outside the state. We are developing a high-touch program that communicates the many ways in which UW-Madison provides a first-rate education,” Blank said. “If these students stay in-state for college, they are more likely to remain in the state after graduation.”
