Office of Policy Analysis & Research

The mission of the Office of Policy Analysis & Research (OPAR) is to inform Universities of Wisconsin planning, policy development, evaluation, and decision-making processes, and guide the Universities of Wisconsin’s strategic direction in contributing to the economic development and higher education goals of the State of Wisconsin.

In fulfilling this mission, OPAR’s primary functions are to oversee the collection and management of student, curricular, admissions, and financial aid data from UW institutions and conduct relevant analysis in these areas; serve as the office of record and clearinghouse for the Universities of Wisconsin Administration (UWSA) on student, curricular, admissions, and financial aid information; provide accurate, timely information and analyses to the Board of Regents, UWSA senior leadership, and UW institutions; lead systemwide accountability reporting efforts; conduct instructional workload and cost analysis; initiate studies to address emerging national and state issues in higher education; support review and evaluation of UW policies and academic programs; contribute to the budget planning process; benchmark UW performance against peer systems and institutions; coordinate and analyze systemwide surveys; respond to state and federally mandated information requirements and other data requests; adopt best practices in use of technology in institutional research; and facilitate collaboration on higher education issues with UW institutions.