About one in five University of Wisconsin-Madison freshmen have parents who did not attend college.
The university says that’s consistent with previous incoming classes. It has been tracking enrollment of first-generation college students for three years and says they usually make up about 20 percent of the incoming class.
This year, about 5,800 new students enrolled at UW-Madison, and 1,170 are first-generation.
Admissions director Rob Seltzer says the number of first-generation students shows the university’s “commitment to ensuring that all residents have an equal opportunity to get an education.”