Student Affordability includes cost of attendance, net costs relative to peer institutions, tuition costs relative to family income, support from institutional grants, student loan debt at graduation, student loan default rates, credits and semesters on the way to a degree and unmet need after financial aid.
Measures of performance and success should be viewed through the lens of institutional context and mission. Institutions within the University of Wisconsin System have differences in missions, students served, and resource capacity. All UW System institutions work to create environments that respond to their unique mission-driven mandates and support their student success goals.
Technical Notes
Student Affordability
Published and net cost of attendance
Students who receive grants and scholarships pay substantially less than the published cost of attendance. Published cost of attendance is calculated for Wisconsin resident new freshmen at UW four-year institutions as the sum of full-time tuition and fees, room and board for on-campus residence, books, transportation, and miscellaneous costs. UW Colleges published cost of attendance assumes room and board costs for students living off campus with family. When more than one UW institution is selected, published cost of attendance is weighted by full-time fall resident undergraduate enrollments. Net cost of attendance is the average amount paid by full-time resident new freshmen receiving grants and scholarships, weighted by on- or off-campus living arrangement using the IPEDS methodology. When more than one UW institution is selected, net cost of attendance is weighted by full-time resident new freshmen receiving grants and scholarships. Cost of attendance is not inflation-adjusted.
Peer and national costs of attendance are for public four-year institutions and are from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Published cost of attendance nationally is weighted by fall total undergraduate enrollments. Net cost of attendance nationally is weighted by full-time resident new freshmen receiving grants and scholarships.
Institutional grant aid
Institutional grant aid to undergraduates with financial need is made up primarily of grants and scholarships funded through sources such as donations to UW institutions and tuition differentials. Years shown reflect the requirement beginning in 1992 to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the uniform federal guideline for determining student financial need. Inflation adjustments are made using the Consumer Price Index.
Student loan debt
Student loan debt is the cumulative debt incurred by Wisconsin resident bachelor’s degree recipients while enrolled at a UW System institution. The cumulative debt includes loans directed through or reported to UW financial aid offices. PLUS loans to parents, loans received at non-UW institutions, credit card loans, and home equity loans are not included. Cumulative debt may differ from loan debt reported in the Common Data Set (CDS) because the CDS is based on first-time students. Years shown reflect the requirement beginning in 1992 to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the uniform federal guideline for determining student financial need. Inflation adjustments are made using the Consumer Price Index. To protect student privacy, values for the less than five bachelor’s degree recipients at UW Colleges in 2014-15 are not shown.
Student loan default rates
The U.S. Department of Education office of Federal Student Aid bases the cohort loan default rate on the percentage of federal loans that go into default within three years of baccalaureate graduation. Prior to fiscal year 2009, the default rate was measured over a two-year period. The national default rate includes all higher education institutions that administer federal student loan programs. Default rates reported by the U.S. Department of Education are truncated to the tenths place and may slightly differ from the rates shown here, which are rounded.
In March 2020, federal student loan payments were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of the suspension, FY18 cohort borrowers were not required to make payments and did not default on federal student loans during the last six months of the three-year default rate window. This resulted in a lower default rate for the FY18 cohort.
As a result of the 2018 restructuring of the University of Wisconsin System, when calculating the FY16 rate the U.S. Department of Education assigned all borrowers from the University of Wisconsin Colleges to five of the seven University of Wisconsin institutions receiving new branch campuses that constituted former University of Wisconsin Colleges locations. When calculating the FY17 & FY18 rates, the U.S. Department of Education assigned all borrowers from the University of Wisconsin Colleges to all seven University of Wisconsin institutions receiving new branch campuses that constituted former University of Wisconsin Colleges locations. The result in the affected years is that every former University of Wisconsin Colleges student, borrower or defaulter, is included in the Federal Student Aid Official Cohort Default Rate for Schools for the affected restructured University of Wisconsin institutions. Therefore, the DoE default rate in affected years at receiving institutions is higher than the actual default rate. In FY16, the affected default rates include UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Platteville, UW-Whitewater, and the UW System. In FY17 & FY18, affected default rates include UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Whitewater, and the UW System.
Unmet need
Average unmet need is the financial need of resident undergraduates remaining after grants, loans, scholarships, and the expected family contribution to college costs. Years shown reflect the requirement beginning in 1992 to use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the uniform federal guideline for determining student financial need. Inflation adjustments are made using the Consumer Price Index. Average unmet need is shown for financial aid recipients who had unmet need.
Enrolled semesters of bachelor’s degree recipients (time to degree)
Semesters enrolled at “Any UW” includes fall and spring semesters enrolled at any UW institution by students starting as new freshmen at any UW institution, including two-year campuses. “Same UW” is based on new freshmen who started at and graduated from the same UW institution. Beginning with 2018-19 graduating cohort, “Same UW” includes four-year campus and its affiliated two-year campus(es). Available data begin in 1993-94, when a systemwide goal to reduce time and credits to degree was established. To protect student privacy, values for the less than five bachelor’s degree recipients at UW Colleges in 2014-15 are not shown.
Credits attempted by bachelor’s degree recipients (credits to degree)
Credits to degree at “Any UW” includes UW credits attempted at any UW institution by students starting as new freshmen at any UW institution, including two-year campuses. “Same UW” is based on new freshmen who started at and graduated from the same UW institution. Beginning with 2018-19 graduating cohort, “Same UW” includes four-year campus and its affiliated two-year campus(es). Available data begin in 1993-94, when a systemwide goal to reduce time and credits to degree was established. To protect student privacy, values for the less than five bachelor’s degree recipients at UW Colleges in 2014-15 are not shown. “Same UW” credits to degree at UW Colleges were substantially lower than at other UW institutions because the UW Colleges’ Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences was designed to include upper level courses at several UW four-year institution partners.
UW credits funded by all sources are included in the analysis. Placement credits, credits awarded for prior learning, and credits transferred from non-UW institutions are not included in any credits to degree calculations
