Facts & Figures

Printable Facts and Information (PDF) Facts Database

Students

Total enrollment: 23,104 students

  • 19,217 undergraduate students 
  • 3,887 graduate students 
  • 3,213 students who are fully online 
  • Students from 72 Wisconsin counties and 50 states 
  • 85% Wisconsin residents 
  • 44% of undergraduates are first-generation college students 
  • 1,244 veterans and military-related students enrolled, more than any other Wisconsin university 

Alumni

218,647 alumni

  • More than 80% of graduates in the last five years live and work in Wisconsin

Academics

  • 103 bachelor’s programs
  • 98 graduate programs
  • 17:1 student-to-faculty ratio

Largest and top-rated online education program in Wisconsin

  • 601 online courses 
  • 54 fully online degree and certificate programs 

Meeting Workforce Needs

  • 88% of UWM graduates in 2023-24 earned degrees in Health and Human Services, Business, STEM and Computer Science
  • The average salary of a UWM graduate is $65,493 (2024-25 survey)
  • Personal return on investment of a UWM bachelor’s degree is estimated to be $1.28 million, based on 30 years of median earnings. (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 2025)
  • 89% of UWM Graduates are working or continuing their education within six months of earning their degree
  • UWM has produced 5,300 graduates annually in the last decade

Community Engagement

  • Earned the prestigious Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement in 2015, 2020 and 2025
  • More than 1,964 service-learning, community-based research and volunteer placements leading to 42,614 hours of service-learning completed by students annually
  • 2,575 students enrolled in 59 service-learning courses 
  • UWM has 3,700 community partnerships, amplifying its impact well beyond the classroom

Research

  • Ranked among the nation’s top 187 research universities, a category known as R1, by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
  • $69.7 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2025
  • More than 1,000+ undergraduate research opportunities available
  • UWM holds 212 patents developed with its researchers
  • 47 active license and option agreements through the UWM Research Foundation
  • Over 43 startup businesses have formed from UWM innovations

Only at UWM

  • Wisconsin’s only schools of architecture, freshwater sciences and public health
  • The state’s largest public nursing program
  • A leader in trauma-informed care, crime analysis, child and family welfare, and school social work
  • Named one of the top 30 film schools of 2026 in the U.S. and Canada by MovieMaker Magazine and one of the top 50 film schools of 2026 in the U.S. by TheWrap magazine
  • Ranked 24th nationally in online bachelor’s programs (U.S. News & World Report)
  • In the top 20% of rankings for business, top 25% for psychology and top 30% for computer science (U.S. News & World Report) 
  • First of its kind master’s in Connected Systems Engineering, blending engineering, business and data science

Only in Milwaukee