Enrollment Trends at UW - Madison

The student population at University of Wisconsin-Madison is 51,044 (38,040 undergraduate and 13,004 graduate students) . The number of students has increased by 8,328 (19.50%) over the past decade.

Class Level: The percentage of undergraduate students at UW - Madison is 74.52% which is increased by 7,049 over last 10 years. The graduate student population increased by 1,279 and it has been increasing.
Gender Breakdown: In 2025, there were 88 male students for every 100 female students, down from 97 in 2015.
1,454 students enrolled in online degree program exclusively and the number of online students has increased by 120.30% since 2015.

School Home 2024 Student Population

Student Population Changes

The average student population over the last 11 years is 45,726 where 51,044 students are attending the school for the academic year 2024-2025.

Total enrollment fluctuated between 2016 and 2025, with 8 year-over-year increases and 1 decrease. It peaked at 51,044 students in 2025 and was lowest at 42,582 in 2017. Overall, enrollment rose from 42,716 to 51,044 students, a net gain of 8,328 (19.5%).

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	42,716	30,991	15,250	15,741	11,725	5,830	5,895
2016-17	42,582 -134	30,958 -33	15,224 -26	15,734 -7	11,624 -101	5,708 -122	5,916 21
2017-18	42,977 395	31,358 400	15,280 56	16,078 344	11,619 -5	5,739 31	5,880 -36
2018-19	43,463 486	31,705 347	15,436 156	16,269 191	11,758 139	5,718 -21	6,040 160
2019-20	44,257 794	32,399 694	15,644 208	16,755 486	11,858 100	5,670 -48	6,188 148
2020-21	44,640 383	32,688 289	15,714 70	16,974 219	11,952 94	5,645 -25	6,307 119
2021-22	47,016 2,376	34,561 1,873	16,404 690	18,157 1,183	12,455 503	5,801 156	6,654 347
2022-23	48,956 1,940	36,306 1,745	17,070 666	19,236 1,079	12,650 195	5,923 122	6,727 73
2023-24	49,605 649	36,797 491	17,304 234	19,493 257	12,808 158	5,975 52	6,833 106
2024-25	51,044 1,439	38,040 1,243	17,815 511	20,225 732	13,004 196	6,117 142	6,887 54
Average	45,726	33,580	16,114	17,466	12,145	5,813	6,333

University of Wisconsin-Madison Enrollment Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the last 11 years is 33,580 where 38,040 students are attending the Undergraduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	30,991	28,555	13,963	14,592	2,436	1,287	1,149
2016-17	30,958	28,577	13,958	14,619	2,381	1,266	1,115
2017-18	31,358	28,977	14,019	14,958	2,381	1,261	1,120
2018-19	31,705	29,375	14,166	15,209	2,330	1,270	1,060
2019-20	32,399	30,157	14,410	15,747	2,242	1,234	1,008
2020-21	32,688	30,063	14,352	15,711	2,625	1,362	1,263
2021-22	34,561	32,071	15,136	16,935	2,490	1,268	1,222
2022-23	36,306	33,838	15,761	18,077	2,468	1,309	1,159
2023-24	36,797	34,278	15,980	18,298	2,519	1,324	1,195
2024-25	38,040	35,466	16,457	19,009	2,574	1,358	1,216
Average	33,580	33,580	14,820	16,316	33,580	1,294	1,151

University of Wisconsin-Madison Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the last 11 years is 12,145 where 13,004 students are attending the Graduate school for the academic year 2024-2025. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2015.

Year	Total	Full-time			Part-time
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2015-16	11,725	9,775	4,931	4,844	1,950	899	1,051
2016-17	11,624	9,707	4,857	4,850	1,917	851	1,066
2017-18	11,619	9,591	4,771	4,820	2,028	968	1,060
2018-19	11,758	9,670	4,753	4,917	2,088	965	1,123
2019-20	11,858	9,778	4,683	5,095	2,080	987	1,093
2020-21	11,952	9,824	4,685	5,139	2,128	960	1,168
2021-22	12,455	10,262	4,822	5,440	2,193	979	1,214
2022-23	12,650	10,424	4,902	5,522	2,226	1,021	1,205
2023-24	12,808	10,650	4,983	5,667	2,158	992	1,166
2024-25	13,004	10,813	5,043	5,770	2,191	1,074	1,117
Average	12,145	12,145	4,843	5,206	12,145	970	1,126

University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 56.24%. The percentage was 70.83% 10 years ago and UW - Madison still has a high percentage of white students. 9.71% of enrolled students is Asian and 2.65% is black students. Hispanic students comprise 7.97% of the student body.

Over the past 10 years, the racial composition has shifted. The percentage of white students decreased from 70.83% to 56.24%. Asian enrollment grew from 5.25% to 9.71%. Black student enrollment increased from 2.23% to 2.65%. Hispanic student representation expanded from 4.65% to 7.97%.

The overall racial diversity, measured by the Census Bureau Diversity Index, is 0.6652 which indicates that moderately diverse. This increased from 0.4922 a decade ago, suggesting that racial diversity has improved.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at University of Wisconsin-Madison over the past 11 years (2015-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2015-16	101	2,243	953	1,986	45	30,257	1,122
2016-17	94	2,374	958	2,050	38	29,775	1,241
2017-18	99	2,487	972	2,184	40	29,447	1,260
2018-19	104	2,663	945	2,235	37	29,033	1,345
2019-20	99	2,916	913	2,418	35	28,823	1,455
2020-21	104	3,178	995	2,729	31	28,837	1,518
2021-22	118	3,645	1,092	3,123	31	29,417	1,777
2022-23	120	4,231	1,219	3,543	31	29,070	2,017
2023-24	132	4,591	1,331	3,880	28	28,432	2,176
2024-25	135	4,955	1,353	4,068	24	28,707	2,300
Average	111	3,328	1,073	2,822	34	29,180	1,621

University of Wisconsin-Madison Enrollment by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

1,454 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 3% of total students. The number of online students has increased 120.30% since 2015. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2015 to 2025.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2015-16	42,716	660	4,974	37,082
2016-17	42,582	676	4,673	37,233
2017-18	42,977	768	5,381	36,828
2018-19	43,463	850	6,424	36,189
2019-20	44,257	894	7,170	36,193
2020-21	44,640	21,672	19,756	3,212
2021-22	47,016	1,459	11,375	34,182
2022-23	48,956	1,384	10,399	37,173
2023-24	49,605	1,416	10,723	37,466
2024-25	51,044	1,454	10,996	38,594
Average	45,726	3,123	9,187	33,415

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Enrollment Trends at UW - Madison

Student Population Changes

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

Graduate Enrollment Changes

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

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