New route unlocked! Wisconsin students have a new way into university

As soon as next week, high school students in every corner of Wisconsin will start receiving admission offers from Universities of Wisconsin under the new Direct Admit Wisconsin Program.

No application or application fee required; the program looks at the ability of students at the end of their junior year in high school to see if they are qualifying for the program. Those who qualify for the program are recommended to check their school email accounts for Direct Admit offers as they are starting as early as next week.

Offers will continue to be sent through the following weeks after that going into September. Offers will also be sent via the US mail to students and parents.

University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman went into more of the details of the program during a press call Wednesday, July 24.

“Those offers will tell participating and qualifying students which of our 10 participating universities has admitted them starting in the fall 2025 semester. No application, no application fee. These students have already demonstrated through their junior year of high school that they have the ability to succeed at one of our universities and to put themselves on a path to a better life and to a better career. All they need to do now is select a university and stay on the road to high school graduation in the spring of 2025.”

Currently there are 10 universities in the program all across Wisconsin, but Rothman shared that there are ongoing discussions with colleges such as UW Lacrosse and Eau Claire about moving forward with them or not in subsequent years. Rothman expressed how this program was helping enrollment.

“In my view, this is consistent with our strategic plan where we said we want to increase enrollment and increase the number of graduates from UW institutions through the 2028 year of our strategic plan. I think this helps in a way that it offers another pathway and particularly students who are in high school who think that they may not qualify to go to college,” explained Rothman. “This will tell them that we believe that they can be successful in our universities and makes it a relatively easy process for them to begin attending our university. So, we believe we’re going to reach students who might not otherwise have chosen to come once we can show them the opportunity, once we can show them financial aid we can offer, once we show them the great things that they can accomplish at our universities.”