The University of Wisconsin was founded in 1848 in Madison, Wisconsin and currently covers more than 10,000 acres along Lake Mendota. This university was the first in the University of Wisconsin System and offers over 130 academic departments for approximately 30,000 undergraduate students. The University of Wisconsin operates on a semester-based academic calendar with highly productive academic research institutes that specialize in a range of medical, pharmaceutical, and environmental studies. The graduation rate at UW is 84.8% and the school commands a student-to-faculty ratio of 17:1, which is much lower than is typical for a flagship state institution. 

Outside of Madison, the Wisconsin State Universities System operates smaller campuses in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Parkside, which have higher acceptance rates and condensed class sizes. Prospective students should note that Wisconsin residents receive in-state tuition at a much lower rate than applicants from out-of-state. Lower tuition rates extend to students from Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. 

UW has a robust funding network that includes entities like the National Institutes of Health and General Motors, making it one of the top research universities in the midwest. UW athletic teams are represented by their campus mascot, Bucky Badger. They compete in the BIG10 and play home games at the famous Camp Randall Stadium. Notable alumni include pioneer of flight Charles Lindbergh, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and naturalist John Muir.