As the 2024 “Empowering the Wisconsin Idea” report noted, UW-Madison is sixth in the nation in research and development spending but not as vibrant in fostering startups. Other universities with R&D budgets comparable to Madison are the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Washington. All four generate far more startups
In fact, all but three of 14 universities examined by the report were tied to more startups — including some with a fraction of the UW-Madison’s research budget.