Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy: New CROWE report: Most colleges don’t have Harvard’s admissions problem

That difference is especially clear in graduate education. UW–Madison’s Graduate School admitted 23.3% of applicants for fall 2025, but only about 39% of admitted students enrolled. International students accounted for 58% of applicants, 43% of admits, and 33% of new enrollees. Similar patterns appear at the University of Minnesota and in University of California academic master’s programs. A program can reject applicants and still compete hard for the students it admits.