UW-Madison’s plan to construct two new dorms is moving forward, but still needs the state’s approval.
The UW Board of Regents approved the student housing proposal at a special meeting on Monday, which calls for the building of two new dorms with a total of 1,700 beds by fall 2029 through an agreement with a private developer.
Meanwhile, faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are worried that the university may soon become the next face of campus sexual assault.
“Currently there’s not a lot of structure for reporting and dealing with [sexual assault],” Al Kovaleski, an agriculture professor at Madison, told Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcot at a Faculty Senate meeting earlier this month, reported The Daily Cardinal. “We’re just one news article away from being Cornell.”
Delani Dow has been appointed to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, Governor Tony Evers announced Thursday.
Dow will serve a two-year term on the nontraditional student regent position to fill the vacancy of Desmond Adongo. Adongo’s term expired on May 1, 2026.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s new College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence may be the system’s most visible and ambitious investment in the evolving field — but it is far from the only one.
Over the past handful of years, campuses across the Universities of Wisconsin have been developing ways for students to understand, responsibly use and navigate the evolving world of AI. From AI literacy to new academic majors, the approach varies, reflecting each university’s academic strengths and priorities.
“What lay behind this is something that actually faculty and students and staff and legislators all agree with,” said Nancy Kendall, a professor and the chair of PROFS, a UW-Madison group that advocates on behalf of faculty. “The issue comes with people being able to listen and trust each other. People are sincerely rowing towards the same goal, but they might not fully understand the ocean in which we’re rowing right now.”
University of Madison-Wisconsin leads all other Wisconsin higher ed institutions with the largest endowment. The top three all exceeded $1 billion in their endowments value.
School can often be seen like a Shakespeare play. A comedy of errors, world defining events and the quest to discover your true identity all confined inside the walls of classrooms and lunchtime. It’s fitting then, that during Wisconsin’s annual State of Education address, among the many performances put on by students, high school seniors Lilly Goodwin and Charlie Holtman performed Shakespeare’s “12th Night,” a comedy of mistaken identities and love.
Overall student enrollment dipped, international and graduate student enrollment continued to fall, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison experienced declines in diversity among first-year students. Those changes are among the key takeaways from Wisconsin’s flagship university’s latest enrollment numbers, based on a student census on the 10th day of classes.
Several of Wisconsin’s colleges and universities made double-digit jumps in U.S. News and World Report’s latest rankings, while others had little movement.
U.S. News’s rankings released Tuesday showed noticeable switch-ups, which it mainly attributes to updates to the system it uses to classify universities and colleges and to a new metric.
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.
The University of Wisconsin was ranked eighth among public universities and 34th among public and private institutions in the U.S., according to the 2027 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Collegesranking.
This is the highest ranking the university has received by the Best Colleges report in close to two decades, according to UW News.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center is using a new grant to help native nations. The center was awarded $116,024 from the Reilly-Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment Grant.
The money is being put toward the creating a handbook to help native nations navigate the processes of acquiring and receiving donated land.
Standardized test scores haven’t been required for admission to Wisconsin universities for years. That change could become permanent under a systemwide test-optional policy now under discussion.
Some universities began suspending ACT and SAT requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 2,000 colleges and universities have since adopted test-optional admissions policies.
Four universities in Wisconsin are listed among the country’s best in the latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison was the top-ranked school in the state and tied for 34th nationwide with seven other colleges and universities.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities for undergraduate education in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is celebrating its highest rankings in the Best Colleges report by U.S. News & World Report in about two decades.
UW-Madison ranked among the top 10 public institutions in the country for undergraduate education in the 2027 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings.
For the first time in four years, UW-Madison has cracked the top 10 among public schools in U.S. News and World Report’s annual list of best universities in the country.
UW-Madison ranked eighth, in a six-way tie, among public schools and 34th overall, according to the rankings released Tuesday. Last year, the flagship university placed 12th among public schools and 36th overall.
Universities of Wisconsin system schools saw a drop in international student enrollment for the first time in three years, reflecting a nationwide trend driven by tighter federal visa policies.
The UW System enrolled an estimated 163,260 students this fall. That number is down 1732 students from last year, 1100 being international students, according to system counts.
Wisconsin’s public colleges are expected to gain a new slate of leadership this fall.
The search committees for the Universities of Wisconsin president and UW-Madison chancellor announced plans Thursday to bring the finalists to campuses for visits in October and November, respectively, paving the way for a hiring decision.
Timothy Paustian has tried everything to stop his students from writing essays with AI. When ChatGPT first came out, Paustian, a biology professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, tested AI detectors that promised to flag machine-generated prose.
UW-Madison’s new humanities building is a far cry from the one across campus that it is, in part, replacing: The decrepit Mosse Humanities Building, known for leaks, crumbling concrete and unreliable elevators.
Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall, a five-floor, 136,000-square-foot building, is the bright and airy new home to eight humanities departments that were previously spread across multiple campus facilities, including Mosse.
A new academic building officially opened on the UW-Madison campus on Thursday called Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall.
It’s at the corner of North Park and West Johnson Streets.
The building will be the new home for humanities classes such as history, African American studies, gender and women’s studies and religious studies.
The Universities of Wisconsin may permanently eliminate college entrance exams scores as a required part of the first year student admission processes.
Since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the UW system has waived a requirement that students submit either SAT and ACT scores at all 13 UW campuses. Before the waiver, the scores had been a requirement for college applications since 1989 .
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved the first reading to make test-optional admissions a permanent policy for the university system.
It’s a step in the process before a final vote to make the change.
A new building is open on the UW-Madison campus.
Neil Kodesh moved into his office at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s newest building on campus three weeks ago, but “it still does not seem real,” he said.
“Our old building was the Humanities Building, the big concrete monstrosity. It has its charm, but it’s a stark contrast to here,” said Kodesh, who chairs the history department.
The UW Board of Regents expects to select a new UW-Madison chancellor in November, the official leading the search committee said Thursday.
UW-Madison’s new chancellor will succeed Jennifer Mnookin, who left the university in May after nearly four years to lead Columbia University. Eric Wilcots, dean of UW-Madison’s College of Letters and Science, is serving as interim chancellor.
The Universities of Wisconsin may permanently eliminate the requirement that college applicants submit an ACT or SAT score as part of the admissions process.
In May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the UW Board of Regents to make college admissions test scores optional at all UW system schools, except UW-Madison, because prospective students were struggling to take in-person exams and to submit scores.
The Universities of Wisconsin may permanently eliminate the requirement that college applicants submit an ACT or SAT score as part of the admissions process.
The Universities of Wisconsin system may soon close the chapter on standardized testing for good, as administrators evaluate a proposal to permanently eliminate ACT and SAT requirements for all undergraduate applicants.
Jaidyn Glaus was sitting in her English class at Durand-Arkansaw Middle & High School last fall when she was called to the principal’s office. She had no idea why.
The Pepin County school’s principal and guidance counselor had news: Thanks to her high grades, Glaus qualified for a new program called the Wisconsin Guarantee, automatically granting her a spot at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after graduation.
The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved operating and capital budget requests for the 2027-29 biennium. The Regents also approved a six-year capital plan through 2033, while the 2027–29 operating and capital requests will now move through Wisconsin’s state budget process, according to the Universities of Wisconsin.
UW-Madison’s new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence just launched this summer but already faces a big challenge — keeping pace with the technology it was created to teach.
Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, the college’s inaugural dean, said it largely depends on fundamentals and flexibility.
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 financial data and software company PitchBook released its annual rankings of the top undergraduate founders for entrepreneurship Sept. 1, with University of Wisconsin ranked as the sixth best U.S. public university.
UW jumped a total of nine spots since last year’s rankings were released, according to UW News.
Year after year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has touted a record number of applicants seeking spots in its incoming class.
Applications have steadily increased since 2009, and the number of new freshman applicants has more than doubled in the past decade from over 32,000 in 2016 to nearly 74,000 last school year, according to the latest university figures.
The Board of Regents unanimously passed a 2027-2033 budget plan and biennial 2027-2029 budget request Aug. 20, requesting funding for a new University of Wisconsin-Madison residence hall and a two-year tuition freeze for in-state students across the UW System.
The Board of Regents unanimously approved a 2027-29 biennial budget request which included a University of Wisconsin-Madison demolition plan for the Mosse Humanities Building with a proposed budget of $463.5 million.
The Universities of Wisconsin are proposing a two-year tuition freeze beginning in 2027 if state lawmakers approve a $190 million increase on top of the UW System’s $730 million budget request.
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is asking students to voluntarily submit their vaccination status as the number of measles cases continues to rise in southwestern Wisconsin.
UW-Whitewater is now open and classes are back in session, after campus police sent a shelter-in-place active-threat alert to students and employees on Wednesday morning.
UW-La Crosse Chancellor James Beeby said Wednesday that raising staff wages and investing in healthcare program expansions are a top priority for the university’s future.
Artificial intelligence and sports management are just a few of the new major offerings across the Universities of Wisconsin that students can enroll in this fall.
Classes for the 2026-27 academic year kick off at all but two of the UW system’s13 schools this week. Some students will be part of the inaugural classes in new majors, such as UW-Madison’s public policy undergraduate major, or UW-Green Bay’s reduced-credit computer science degree, which students will complete in under four years.
Applications and enrollment of international students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Milwaukee are down significantly for 2026, the schools said in court filings, as the Trump administration makes it harder to study in the U.S. and stay in the country after college for work.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison would receive an additional $260 million in state funding, and in-state students would experience a tuition freeze if state lawmakers greenlight the UW system’s budget plans for the next two years.
“After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the program and not proceed with my plan to study in the United States,” one student who had committed to the University of Wisconsin–Madison wrote to the institution, per the court document. “A significant factor in my decision was the recently published DHS final rule … after weighing these circumstances carefully, I do not feel that I can proceed with my studies in the United States as originally planned and I won’t come to United States this academic year.”
The UW Board of Regents approved the Universities of Wisconsin’s operating and capital budget requests Thursday, which include plans to freeze tuition for two years, raze a prominent UW-Madison building and get the campus its first new dorm in more than a decade.
Homestead High School in Mequon hosts a college admissions presentation every year, offering families general advice about the application process.
This year’s presentation, however, was much more specific: How to get into the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Universities of Wisconsin leaders on Monday announced the system will freeze tuition for two years, starting in fall 2027, provided the state “invests $190 million to support the cost of the freeze and other operating needs that preserve educational quality,” according to a news release.
The Universities of Wisconsin Regent President Kyle Weatherly and UWs President Renee Wachter announced Monday that the Universities of Wisconsin will propose to freeze tuition rates for 2027-2029.
The pledge, called the 4-Year Tuition Pledge, is a main focus of the UW’s 2027-2029 budget proposal.
The Pledge proposes freezing tuition for the 2027-2029 biennium, provided the state invests $190 million to support the cost of the freeze and other operating needs that preserve educational quality, officials said.
The University of Wisconsin System is asking state lawmakers for $190 million in additional funding in order to freeze tuition for two years and cap the increase at the rate of inflation for the two next years.
The proposal is part of the university system’s biennial budget request from state lawmakers. UW leadership recently asked for an additional $90 million of funding to use toward training 35,000 new healthcare professionals over a 10-year span.
Universities of Wisconsin leaders announced a proposal Monday, Aug. 17, to freeze tuition through the 2027-29 budget cycle, provided the state invests $190 million to cover the cost of the freeze and other operating needs.
Under the plan, called the 4-Year Tuition Pledge, the university system would also commit to keeping tuition increases at or below the rate of inflation for the following two years.
Wisconsin’s public university system is emphasizing affordability, access and forward motion in its 2027-29 budget request, seeking a $730 million increase in funding from the state Legislature and governor ahead of November elections.
Universities of Wisconsin leaders are proposing to seek an additional $730 million in aid over the next two years with an offer to freeze tuition over that period — if the state comes up with the money to cover the lost revenue.
UW Board of Regents President Kyle Weatherly and interim system President Renee Wachter said yesterday if state lawmakers take them up on the offer for $190 million to fund the freeze, the system would also keep tuition increases at or under the rate of inflation for the 2029-31 biennium.
The Universities of Wisconsin is pledging to freeze tuition for two years and create thousands more workers as part of a $730 million two-year budget request it plans to submit to the state Legislature.
The request, released Monday, seeks to “address the state’s needs,” UW system Interim President Renée Wachter said.
Over the last few budget cycles, the UW system’s budget efforts have had mixed success, sometimes leading to significant increases in state funding and at other times resulting in hard-fought negotiations that yielded little.
We discuss the Universities of Wiscoinsin’s latest budget proposals. Then, we hear from researchers about a study into people with dementia experiencing moments of lucidity. And we talk to the 17-year-old Wisconsin resident representing Team USA in the Pan-American Championship for MMA fighting.
