UW-Madison has welcomed its largest freshman class ever. UW-Madison provost Paul DeLuca said the freshman enrollment of about 6300 new, entering students is the biggest ever, and quite a bit larger than the five-year average of about 5800. “We had about 8400 applications from Wisconsin residents, about 16,000 applications from the rest of the United States, and about 5000 from other countries,” said DeLuca
The new class brings total undergraduate enrollment on the Madison campus to just over 29,000. The increase comes as other UW System campuses report a decline in freshman enrollment, attributable to a decline in Wisconsin’s birth rate eighteen years ago. “The pressure from state residents to come to the flagship campus is, as you can imagine, very high,” said DeLuca. “I like to think that we’re the first choice, if you will. So we would be the last to be affected by a decrease in the pool.”
Offers of admission to Wisconsin students increased to 68 percent. All 72 counties are represented in this freshman class, as are 48 states and 35 foreign countries. Foreign students make up 10 percent of the class, and students of color 14 percent.
