‘Prepared for life’: UW–Madison awards the most degrees ever

Morgan Ebert enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison four years ago as part of one of the largest freshman classes ever. Yet she experienced an education that helped her discover her own unique strengths and interests through opportunities such as career planning with SuccessWorks, serving as an officer in the Association for Women in Communications – Madison Chapter, working in multiple internships, and even landing a one-time gig as a stage manager for a major television network.  

“My experience at UW–Madison truly helped shape my current career interests and overall path,” says Ebert, who graduated in May 2025 with a bachelor’s degree with majors in both journalism and communication arts, and quickly landed a job as an associate media planner at Hiebing, a Wisconsin-based marketing firm. The foundational tools she gained on campus, she says, “propelled me, and readily prepared me for the life I wanted to live as a media planner.” 

Ebert’s graduation marked a huge milestone for the Milwaukee native, of course — but also for the university itself. This spring UW–Madison awarded 13,733 degrees to 13,663 recipients, the most in university history.  

That total exceeded the previous year — also a record-breaker — by more than 1,200 degrees. It included the highest number of bachelor’s degrees ever awarded by Wisconsin’s largest university (9,180 degrees) as well as the most master’s degrees ever (2,935 master’s degrees).  

The boost was also seen in other advanced degree programs. In 2024-25, the university awarded the second-highest number of clinical doctorate degrees and the fourth-highest number of research doctorate degrees in its history.   

“This remarkable trend assures us that UW–Madison is on the right track in ensuring that higher education is accessible, affordable and offers a lifetime of value for both current and future students,” said Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs John Zumbrunnen. “Our goal is to prepare the next-generation workforce and to equip our students with the critical-thinking skills key to a future filled with potential.” 

Students also earned their bachelor’s degrees in record time. For 2024-25 undergraduates, the average “time to degree”— measured in calendar years from entrance date to degree date for new freshman starts — was 3.78 years, the lowest ever.  

In addition to making time to degree more efficient, UW–Madison is committed to ensuring that an education at the nationally ranked institution is affordable and accessible for students. More than 65% of the university’s undergraduates complete their degree debt-free, according to data from 2023-24.  

When many members of the record-breaking Class of 2025 celebrated Commencement at Camp Randall in May, they also joined a record number of alumni. This year, the university’s count of 501,534 living alumni crossed the half-million mark for the first time. 

Even as a freshman, Ebert realized that her class would be making history.  

“I was beyond proud of it – to be a part of something that big was so eye-opening,” she says. 

“It speaks volumes of how highly we all hold UW–Madison and their academics. We all wanted to be a part of this strong legacy of thinkers and doers, and we set out to do it,” she says. “To know that so many people wanted to be a part of that, all together, was so inspiring.”