NEW - Information for Students
Get information about eligibility, determination of funding, enrollment, and more.
Key Points
- Launched Fall 2023
- FAFSA Required. Students automatically considered when they apply for federal financial aid.
- Must be Wisconsin Resident, First-Time Enrollee or Transfer, Attending Full-Time
“A college degree needs to be within reach for every Wisconsin citizen as a path to a better life and the Wisconsin Tuition Promise will provide these opportunities. It is also how we can close the skills gap that now limits Wisconsin’s potential to thrive in a global economy.”
UW System President Jay Rothman
Wisconsin Tuition Promise
Launched in fall 2023, the Wisconsin Tuition Promise is a new initiative to ensure underserved Wisconsin students can attend any UW System university without paying tuition or fees.
The goal of the program is to increase the number of state residents who graduate with a bachelor’s degree – especially first-generation students and those from low-to-moderate income families throughout Wisconsin – thereby improving individual lives and communities and helping meet the state’s workforce needs.
The Wisconsin Tuition Promise would provide up to four years of tuition and fee funding for students coming from families earning less than $62,000 annually and enrolling at the 12 public universities other than UW-Madison.
The program would be structured to provide “last dollar” financial support after federal and state grant aid is accounted for; as a result, Tuition Promise awards will vary.
Eligible students will be Wisconsin residents, first-time enrollees or transfers, and attending full-time. See Eligibility Requirements below.
Students will be automatically considered for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise when they apply for federal financial aid.
Further information from UW System universities will be available later this year
Eligibility Requirements
- Wisconsin residents.
- First-time bachelor or associate degree seeking (includes first-time transfer).
- Must file a FAFSA each year and in the first year have $62,000 or lower adjusted gross income.
- Eight semesters of eligibility total for bachelor-degree-seeking students. Four semesters of eligibility for associate-degree-seeking and transfer students. A student who transfers after the first year could be eligible for six semesters. Count will start in fall 2023
- Fall and spring enrollment only.
- Must meet Standards of Academic Progress (SAP) and other Title IV eligibility requirements for continued eligibility.
- Must be continuously enrolled.
- Must have been employed at some point during the preceding year.
Note: UW Madison is not a participant in the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, instead it offers the Bucky Tuition Promise.
Campus Financial Aid Offices
Campus financial aid offices will have more information as it becomes available.