Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 6.4-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 293 Title IV programs, 79 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 213 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing79 · 27.0%
- No Data213 · 72.7%
- Failing1 · 0.3%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 18
Action history · 21
- Oct 2025Deferral of ActionAmerican Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation · School Psychology (SCPSY) - PhD Doctoral programs
- Dec 2024Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary WithdrawalCommission on English Language Program Accreditation · English Language
- Jan 2024Approved for Distance EducationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIET) - Coordinated Program in Dietetics
- Aug 2023Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
- Apr 2023Renewal of AccreditationCommission on English Language Program Accreditation · English Language
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 7,753 students received $43.4M in Pell grants, alongside $85.5M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 6,352 borrowers who entered repayment, 116 (1.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at UWM
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 7
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus30
- Public property3
Includes 17 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Race1
- Ethnicity1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Sandburg Hall1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
Data quality: 7 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
UWM vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions UWM selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 49% | — | 22,450 | $15,014 | R1 Research |
| 90% | 45.2% | 51,044 | $17,354 | R1 Research | |
| 58% | 81.2% | 23,803 | $12,766 | R1 Research | |
| 65% | 85.0% | 26,323 | $21,637 | R1 Research | |
| 64% | 86.3% | 26,374 | $20,787 | R1 Research | |
| 62% | 77.4% | 33,906 | $10,974 | R1 Research | |
| Peer group median | 63% | 81.2% | 26,349 | $16,184 |
Institutions like UWM
Explore the federal data for institutions in UWM's comparison group.
- R1 ResearchWisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Grad rate90%Admit rate45.2%Enrollment51,044Net price$17,354View data - R1 ResearchMichigan
Wayne State University
Grad rate58%Admit rate81.2%Enrollment23,803Net price$12,766View data - R1 ResearchOhio
Ohio University-Main Campus
Grad rate65%Admit rate85.0%Enrollment26,323Net price$21,637View data - R1 ResearchOhio
Kent State University at Kent
Grad rate64%Admit rate86.3%Enrollment26,374Net price$20,787View data - R1 ResearchIllinois
University of Illinois Chicago
Grad rate62%Admit rate77.4%Enrollment33,906Net price$10,974View data
Campuses
The 1 campus that make up University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UWM Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Assessment & Institutional Research provides data and strategic analysis to help inform key initiatives and decision-making at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Visit IR office page- Vicky D'Anjou-PomerleauInstitutional Research Analyst
- Lisa Fugina RussellTesting and Course Evaluation Administrator
- James HardyInstitutional Policy Analyst II
- Elisabeth KoernerInstitutional Policy Analyst II
- Suyu LinInstitutional Policy Analyst I
- Matthew SanvilleInstitutional Research Analyst
Common Data Set
UWM's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C115,109 applied → 14,398 admitted (95.1%) → 3,377 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Accessible — 95.1% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rates are similar across genders (Men 93.7%, Women 96.5%).
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Affordability & Value
Cost of attendance
GTotal sticker cost of attendance is $24,106 (2024-2025).
Sticker vs. net price
G+HSticker $24,106 → about $16,338 net for aided students after the average need-based grant ($7,768); 47% of demonstrated need is met.
Where grant aid comes from
H10% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H567% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $33,853 on average.
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I351% of classes have under 20 students; 5% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~18% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D12,270 transfer applicants → 2,101 admitted (92.6%) → 1,229 enrolled — more selective than first-year admission.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about UWM.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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