How likely are in-state UW students to stay in Wisconsin after they graduate?

As many high school seniors prep for their first year of college, a new Wisconsin law will give the state’s highest-performing high schoolers a guaranteed spot at any of the Universities of Wisconsin campuses.

Signed into law in February, it requires the UW system and local technical college boards to create a guaranteed admission program for Wisconsin applicants ranked in the top 5% of their class.

In his latest newsletter, Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, R-Walworth, described the legislation as a way to keep Wisconsin students in the state for college and beyond.

"Admission should be based on merit and achievement, not race and identity. With nearly 90% of all UW graduates staying in Wisconsin five years after they graduate, we need to do a better job of reducing ‘brain drain’ and keep our best and brightest here in our state," August said in his May 3 newsletter.

The claim that nearly 90% of alumni across the UW campuses stay in the state postgraduation stood out to us. 

We decided to track down that data.

Before we get into where alumni live, it’s important to note that August is talking about keeping in-state students in Wisconsin postgraduation — not all UW alumni.

Although the direct statement is broader, referring to all UW alumni, the context of the claim came from August’s newsletter which talked about wanting to keep in-state high school students in Wisconsin after college.

UW keeps track of where bachelor’s degree recipients across the 13 campuses live based on information they provide to their alumni associations.

UW’s latest 2021 data on alumni residency shows the majority of in-state students will live in Wisconsin after earning their degree.

Based on 2015-2016 in-state UW graduates, 87% of them still lived in Wisconsin by 2021.

Featured Fact-check

Jay Rothman

stated on December 1, 2024 in TV interview

“The Universities of Wisconsin are 43rd out of 50 states in the nation, in terms of public support for our universities. The $855 million (budget request) gets us up to average.”

One year postgraduation, 90% of in-state students will still live in Wisconsin, while 10 years after graduation 80% will.

When you look at out-of-state alumni living in Wisconsin, that percentage drops significantly. Sixteen percent of out-of-state students, excluding Minnesota students, lived in Wisconsin five years after graduation.

Minnesota students are specifically separated from the UW’s out-of-state alumni data because of a reciprocity agreement that allows Minnesota students to attend UW schools without paying nonresident tuition.

Minnesota students are even less likely to live in Wisconsin after graduation, though, with 10% staying in the state five years later. 

In his legislative newsletter, August said "Nearly 90% of all UW graduates stay in Wisconsin 5 years after they graduate."

Based on UW’s data on where bachelor’s degree recipients across the 13 campuses live, 87% of in-state students lived in Wisconsin five years after graduation. 

We rate this claim True.