More than 163,000 students chose a Universities of Wisconsin university this fall, a strong sign that demand remains steady,” interim system president Renée Wachter said. “These students and their families are making an investment in their future and Wisconsin’s future.”
Enrollment at UW-Madison remained above 50,000, with an estimated 50,500 Badgers counted on Day One. UW-Milwaukee’s enrollment rose to 23,000, boosted by the campus’ largest first-year class in 17 years.
The Universities of Wisconsin says its enrollment levels are holding steady after three years of consecutive growth.
According to preliminary estimates based on Day One student counts, enrollment decreased approximately 1% across the 13 UW campuses, which included significant international student decreases.
Enrollment appeared to decline across the Universities of Wisconsin for the first time since 2021, preliminary enrollment estimates show, with that decline driven largely by a drop in the number of international students. Overall enrollment remains relatively steady.
About 163,260 students enrolled in one of the 13 state universities, down 1,732 from 2025, according to university estimates. Of those, 1,100 were international students.
Enrollment across the Universities of Wisconsin is holding relatively steady this fall after three consecutive years of growth, according to preliminary numbers released Friday.
The Universities of Wisconsin estimate 163,260 students are enrolled across its 13 universities for fall 2026. That is about 1% lower than last fall’s final enrollment of 164,992 students.
The price of diesel is hitting record highs just when many U.S. farmers need it to power combines, tractors and other equipment to harvest two of the nation’s largest commodities, soybeans and corn.
The spike adds to an already tough year for these farmers, who also faced higher costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.
Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Sept. 4, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time as the six-month war with Iran disrupted the world’s flow of fuel. It has gone even higher since then, going for an average price of $6.05 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.
“Constipation is one of the most common GI [gastrointestinal] symptoms people complain about, and it’s not uncommon for it to be related to a medication someone is taking,” says Mark Benson, MD, an associate professor of medicine and gastroenterologist at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin.
About 3 million people in the United States live with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF. Unlike better-known forms of heart failure, HFpEF does not necessarily prevent the heart from squeezing normally. Instead, the heart becomes too stiff to fill properly and supply the body with enough blood during activity.
Dr. Nathaniel Chin was in residency when his father, Dr. Moe Chin, a family physician in Watertown, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2012. The elder Chin retired the next day, ending a 40-year career as a doctor. He died in 2018.
“He saw everyone in his clinic, from young kids to the elderly,” Dr. Nathaniel Chin said recently of his father on WPR’s “The Lee Rayburn Show.” “He was my introduction to health, wellness and providing care for people.”
The University of Wisconsin Wisconsin Union Directorate Wellness Committee hosted a new event titled The Amazing Wellness Race Sept. 24 outside at Union South. The event was a collaborative effort from University Recreation & Wellbeing, Mental Health Services and Badger Recovery.
The Amazing Wellness Race is a participatory, educational mental health and wellbeing fair, with stations focusing on movement and positivity, according to WUD Wellness Committee Program Advisor Morgan Michaels. The event featured various stands with different activities and challenges for interactive mental health education, with different prizes and free food for participants.
As Ted Kellner stood in front of the athletic center that bears his family’s name, he recalled the conversation with Barry Alvarez that started the whole thing.
“We were going to a football game,” Kellner said. “He said, ‘Tedro’, that’s my nickname. He said, ‘Tedro, I’ve got an idea’. When Barry says ‘Tedro, I got an idea’, I get my wallet out.”
UW-Madison has released findings from its hazing investigation that led to a three-month suspension of fraternity Phi Beta Sigma in 2025, in response to a Wisconsin State Journal public records request.
Over four days in February 2025, the fraternity’s new recruits were forced to do strenuous workouts and stand next to a hot stove for extended periods, according to recently released investigation records.
When state lawmakers reconvene next year to set another two-year budget, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will revive its years-long push for constructing a new residence hall.
University of Wisconsin-Madison police are investigating after a recent UW-Madison graduate released video he says he secretly recorded inside the university’s meat science facility.
The video involves the facility’s use of carbon dioxide to stun pigs before slaughter.
Ryan Blum said he spent months planning how to get inside to record the process. He said he captured about 83 seconds of video, with less than 30 seconds showing pigs inside what he says is the CO2 chamber.
A recent UW-Madison graduate and animal rights activist has released video he says he secretly recorded inside a campus facility while pigs were undergoing carbon dioxide stunning, a process used to render pigs unconscious before slaughter.
Ryan Blum, who graduated in May, told WMTV he spent months planning how to secretly enter UW–Madison’s Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery Building specifically to record the process.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation announced Thursday that it provided $160.7 million in total support to research and innovation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research in the fiscal year ending in June 2026.
The funding includes annual grants for both institutions, supplemental grants for special initiatives and in-kind support for operations, investments and inventors.
A UW Health doctor is reflecting on how the events of 9/11 shaped her life’s purpose.
Dr. Lisa Arkin was working in television in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
In the days following the attacks, she volunteered overnight at a nearby trauma center, helping families search for loved ones.
That experience inspired her to leave her career and go to medical school.
