The
University of Wisconsin-Madison, often shortened to University of Wisconsin or UW, is a public university with a primary campus in Madison, Wisconsin. The entire University of Wisconsin system is composed of 15 institutions and 26 campuses. As the largest university in the state with a total fall enrollment of 41,480 students and 2,064 faculty, UW is also the 10th largest university in the U.S. in terms of student population.
Considered a leading Public Ivy, the Madison flagship campus is divided into 20 associated colleges and schools and 150 study abroad programs, and in addition to traditional undergraduate and graduate divisions in business, engineering, education, agriculture, and letters and sciences, UW also maintains several professional schools in law, medicine, veterinary medicine, environmental studies, urban and regional planning, and pharmacy.
UW ranks as one of the greatest research universities in the world. Its strongest programs include
education,
geography,
history, and
sociology. It also ranks as one of the best overall schools and best undergraduate schools in both the U.S. and the world across several lists. According to the National Research Council, Over 70 programs at UW rank in the top 10 nationally. UW is one of 60 elected members of the Association of American Universities for its outstanding leading achievements in research, especially in embryonic stem cell research.
Wisconsin has the 11th largest research
library collection in North America. Memorial Library is also the largest library in Wisconsin. Undergraduates are served by the College Library. The Kurt F. Wendt Library serves Engineering, Science, and Technology students. There are over 40 General Library System, professional, and special-purpose libraries that serve the campus.
Oddly enough, UW is also ranked as the nation's number one party school by the
Princeton Review. "Work hard, play hard," is quickly becoming an associated mentality among UW students. While the campus is an urban one just blocks away from the state capitol, UW enjoys its own police force, food service, hospital, Geology Museum, Art museum, recreation facilities, power facilities, and on-campus dairy. The main hub of campus life is the Memorial Union. UW is the only American university to have two competing daily student newspapers: The Daily Cardinal and The Badger Herald.
Athletically, UW's teams are called the Wisconsin Badgers and they participate in the NCAA Division I-A as well as the
Big Ten Conference, save for its men and women's hockey programs, which compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Both men's and women's hockey took home national titles. The highly-ranked UW men's rowing team competes in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges.
Football is extremely popular at UW. The team plays in the 80,000-plus capacity Camp Randall Stadium, which has always drawn large crowds and a loyal following. The Badgers have won the Rose Bowl Championships three times. Their rivalry against University of Minnesota is the longest-running rivalry in NCAA sports. Rivalries also exist with University of Iowa, in-state Marquette University, and Ohio State University. UW's men's basketball has enjoyed success in recent years too. It often shows up in the NCAA's March Madness, even reaching the Final Four in 2000. Both men's and women's ice hockey teams have won several national champions as well. Ice hockey is considered especially competitive.
Notable alumni include historian Stephen Ambrose, actress Joan Cusack, novelist Joyce Carol Oates, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, aviator Charles Lindbergh, and astronaut on the Apollo 13 mission Jim Lovell.
Admissions.
