According to university officials, over the last three years the UW-Madison Office of Admissions has accepted many freshman students with first-generation status or whose parents did not earn a college degree.
The admissions office not only takes test scores and course rigor into account, but also factors in the importance of the diversity that a first-generation status provides to each freshman class.
Rob Seltzer, director of admissions, said the office has an interest in the success of first-generation students because it affects the stability and strength of the freshman class as a whole.