Graduate School Annual Report 2025-2026

UW–Madison programs continue to rank highly in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools.” Nearly 20 programs ranked in their respective Top 10 lists, shining a light on the breadth and depth of the university’s graduate offerings.

The Graduate School plays a critical role in campus-wide graduate admissions and enrollment strategy. This year, the school launched the Graduate Admissions and Funding Communication Framework to support communication from graduate programs to newly admitted students. Created in collaboration with campus partners, the resource defines common types of admissions offers and provides guidance on timing, content, and delivery. The framework helps reduce confusion during the admissions process and ensures students receive accurate information.

The Graduate School and the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee (GFEC) updated the university’s graduate admissions requirements in response to Educational Testing Service’s transition to a new score scale for the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Incorporating feedback from graduate programs, the revised guidance sets a minimum score of 5 on the 0–6 scale and includes an alternative English as a Second Language Assessment Test pathway. This update maintained clear, consistent admissions expectations while allowing programs to set higher standards if needed.

In response to a nationwide rise in fraudulent graduate applications, the school developed guidance for programs to report suspected identity fraud in Slate and an internal process to investigate and remove fraudulent applications. These schemes use stolen identities to fraudulently gain admission and access financial aid. In addition to displacing eligible students, such activity can impose substantial financial harm on identity theft victims. 

Approximately 350 Lumen Program Proposals were reviewed and approved for the fall 2026 Guide, including those that went to the GFEC and administrative proposals to update tuition status. Of these proposals, 284 were approved for small changes such as deactivated course reconciliation, program-specific policy updates, and adjustments to curricular or admission requirements.

The Graduate School supported academic program improvement by enhancing the Graduate Student Tracking System (GSTS) and updating student advisement reports to reflect newly approved Lumen Program Proposals that guide annual curricular changes. Staff completed updates to 160 existing GSTS reports and created nine new reports for programs implementing revised or newly approved requirements for fall 2026.

The analytic data brief on the career interests of master’s students examined differences between international and domestic populations, as well as job placement preferences by program tuition structure. Similarly, the analytic data brief on the career advising of master’s students explored types and sources of career advice received and desired.

UW–Madison’s efforts to collect and leverage data about PhD career outcomes contributed to the Council of Graduate Schools’ final report on the PhD Career Pathways Project. The foundation-funded project aimed to improve doctoral education through data collection, information sharing, and development of career readiness resources. As part of the project, since 2017, the Graduate School has expanded data infrastructure to track alumni outcomes and expanded career services and programs that support graduate student success.

Subject matter experts collaborated to improve demographic questions on the graduate student application, refining questions and response options and ensuring the data could be consistently compared over time, particularly for questions about prior program participation and students’ financial and educational backgrounds.

The Graduate School’s Promising Practices in Graduate Admissions workshop engaged more than 70 participants from over 50 graduate programs, contributing to a total of 90 programs reached over the past three years. Evaluation results indicate strong impact, with 100% of respondents reporting they are likely to apply what they learned.

The half-day Summer Graduate School Day & Resource Fair connected 53 graduate programs with 187 prospective students, including 119 UW–Madison Summer Research Opportunity Program participants and 68 external McNair and regional scholars. Participants explored graduate pathways through panels, small-group discussions, and engagement. Surveys reflected positive feedback, particularly about the interactive faculty roundtables and connecting directly with graduate programs. 

To recruit top postdoc talent to UW–Madison, the Graduate School continued to co-lead and host the Postdoc Opportunities Board, a Big10+ Postdoc Affairs Network collaborative project to promote postdoc positions across the 18 member institutions. 

The Graduate School inducted five PhD students into the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, recognizing excellence in scholarship, leadership, advocacy, and service. They joined a national network of scholars and presented their work at the Annual Bouchet Conference at Yale University. While at the conference, UW–Madison scholars participated in a Big10+ networking reception, building connections and community across peer institutions. 

The Graduate School’s partnership with the College of Letters and Science on the Campus-wide Teaching Assistant Awards reflects a commitment to instructional excellence and student success. By celebrating these 32 TAs this year, the university elevates the essential role graduate students play in shaping the undergraduate experience. These honors affirm that teaching excellence is central to graduate education and to the university’s mission. Among these awardees, the university nominated a candidate for the doctoral Midwest Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award.

The Graduate School’s partnership with the Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS) plays a major role in meeting graduate students’ basic needs. OSAS saw a 20% increase in master’s and doctoral students needing assistance this year. Graduate students received 46% of all BadgerFare funds, and many relied on crisis grants for unexpected challenges.

The Graduate Student Support Specialist position expanded direct assistance and campus coordination to better meet graduate student needs. Over the past year, the role managed an 11% increase in cases, supported a record number of international students, and delivered resource awareness presentations to roughly 20 campus groups.

The specialist advanced campus support through the Food Security Workgroup, the Basic Needs Survey review team, and regular collaborations to address emerging concerns. 

Graduate School staff continued to curate and publish GradConnections Weekly, a digest of events, announcements, and funding opportunities for graduate students. The newsletter continues to see an engaged core audience of graduate students. This year, GradConnections included a new Celebrations section highlighting accomplishments, awards, and research across campus, further recognizing the positive impact of graduate students.

Embedded within the disciplines and coordinated by the Graduate School, Graduate Research Scholar (GRS) Communities foster collaboration, wellbeing, and belonging by connecting students through social, academic, and professional programming, with a focus on first-year transitions and individualized advising. The initiative supported 166 fellows with $6.5 million in funding during 2025–2026. To further champion student retention and timely degree completion, the Graduate School has been advancing shared standards for a successful GRS model by cultivating inclusive spaces, strengthening faculty mentorship training, and streamlining cross-campus communication.

The Graduate School hosted open labs to support and prepare graduate coordinators for the Guide/Lumen editing window during spring 2026. The sessions created a space to ask questions and hear best practices for Guide editing through Lumen Program Proposals, and a total of 146 coordinators accepted the open lab invitations. 

The school completed a holistic review of the Doctoral Exit survey, analyzing questions for relevance, adjusting wording and response options where appropriate, and improving documentation and flow. The revamped survey, along with the Master’s Exit Survey and Doctoral Student Experience Survey, will debut during the 2027-2028 academic year.

Collaborating units from across campus – including the Writing Center, DoIT’s Software Training for Students, the Libraries, and many more – worked with the Graduate School to enter their programming into the central events calendar. Through this collaboration, the Graduate School amplified 769 professional development opportunities through its calendar, newsletter, and social media accounts. 

The volunteer-led UW–Madison Postdoctoral Association, which is overseen and funded by the Graduate School, was restructured to include new committees on professional development, advocacy, engagement, and wellbeing. The 10th annual UW–Madison Postdoctoral Research Symposium held during National Postdoc Appreciation Week was organized by the largest ever group of postdoc volunteers (18 postdocs) and drew 202 attendees. The association also held the 12th annual Celebration of Postdoc Excellence as an opportunity for postdocs to learn and connect while celebrating the great work of the postdoctoral training community.

The Graduate School participated in a research study on postdoc wellbeing led by the School of Medicine and Public Health. The study aims to fill an important gap in the literature: while there is research on wellbeing in undergraduate and graduate populations, little to no research exists on the specific needs of postdocs. The study focuses on barriers in healthcare services and mentorship, and perceptions of belonging and connection.

Funding Forward, the Graduate School’s initiative to prepare graduate students to compete for national fellowships, featured info sessions, proposal-writing workshops, and advising for major competitions like the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award predoctoral fellowships, and foundation fellowships. Complementing departmental efforts, the initiative engaged nearly 700 students in workshops, funding statement sessions with the Writing Center, and mini grant-writing camps with the School of Education.

As part of its commitment to expanding access to funding, resources, and opportunities, the Graduate School coordinated limited-submission fellowship competitions for highly competitive national and international awards, including programs such as Schmidt Science Fellows, the Google PhD Fellowship, and the Apple Scholars in AI/ML program. By managing these processes, the Graduate School supports programs in advancing top candidates and strengthens the competitiveness of UW–Madison nominees.