University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

UWM's acceptance rate is approximately 90.68% per IPEDS 2024-25 (14,581 of 16,079 applicants admitted), and standard freshman admission requires only a high school transcript and GPA (minimum 2.0). SAT and ACT scores are not required but are considered if submitted - 66% of enrolled students submitted ACT scores in 2024-25, with a median composite ACT of 21. A personal essay is recommended but not explicitly required for standard admission. An application fee is required (confirm current amount at uwm.edu/admission). The fall application deadline for most programs is August 1, with earlier deadlines for some competitive programs. Apply as early as possible for two concrete reasons: on-campus housing is limited and competitive at UWM, and early applications give you priority access to the housing selection process; and some programs - architecture and nursing in particular - are described by current students as unusually hard to get into at UWM and operate with their own deadlines and requirements that extend well beyond the general admission threshold. Set your program-specific deadlines more than six months in advance of your target start date.

Three of UWM's 15 schools and colleges are the only institutions of their kind in Wisconsin. The School of Architecture and Urban Planning is the only architecture program in the state and is consistently identified by students and external reviewers as UWM's most prestigious school, though admission is competitive and demand exceeds capacity. The School of Freshwater Sciences, opened 2009, is the only graduate school of freshwater science in the United States, located five blocks from Lake Michigan with access to the Great Lakes watershed, three converging urban rivers, research vessels, and a genomics center - a research environment no other institution in the country can replicate for freshwater and Great Lakes science. The Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health (CEPH-accredited), opened 2008, is the first public health school in Wisconsin and provides undergraduate public health pathways alongside its graduate programs. If any of these fields is your academic target, UWM is structurally the most direct path in Wisconsin and one of the most distinctive nationally.

UWM maintains Carnegie R1 (Very High Research Activity) classification - reconfirmed in 2025 as one of only 187 out of nearly 4,000 US postsecondary institutions to hold this designation. In fiscal year 2025, UWM generated $69.7 million in external research expenditures, holds 212 patents, and has spun off more than 41 startup businesses from faculty and student innovations. More than 1,000 undergraduate research opportunities are available across disciplines. A new master's degree in Connected Systems Engineering - the first of its kind nationally, blending engineering, business, and data science - reflects UWM's commitment to applied research at the intersection of disciplines. The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), housed in the Golda Meir Library, contains nearly 2 million items including maps, atlases, globes, photographs, and digital geospatial data - one of the most significant geography collections in the world. For students who compare UWM to UW-Madison without considering UWM's research output, this is a meaningful distinction: UWM is the second doctoral-granting public research university in Wisconsin, and its research programs in psychology, physics, engineering, and freshwater sciences rival institutions with far stronger national name recognition.

UWM's 104-acre campus sits on Milwaukee's upper East Side, five blocks from Lake Michigan, in a residential neighborhood that US News reviewers consistently describe as safe, walkable, and well-maintained. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and provides students with access to a uniquely dense professional network for a city of its size: the Milwaukee Bucks (NBA, Deer District arena), Milwaukee Brewers (MLB, American Family Field), Summerfest (the world's largest annual music festival held on the lakefront), the Milwaukee Art Museum (Santiago Calatrava-designed, on Lake Michigan), and the Milwaukee Riverwalk create a cultural infrastructure that directly supports students in arts, music, communications, hospitality, and sports management programs. UWM's research partnerships with Wisconsin-based companies - in manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and engineering - further embed the university in the regional economy. Engelmann Stadium on the UWM campus hosts the Panther Invitational, the longest-running in-season tournament in NCAA Division I men's soccer history, running continuously since 1973 (except one season). For students from outside Wisconsin, Milwaukee is significantly more affordable than comparable-sized university cities on the coasts.