Last updated: Sept. 12, 2024
In the legislature’s recent effort to boost enrollment at state universities, it passed a law that creates a pathway for Wisconsin public, private, charter and home high school students to receive guaranteed admission to Universities of Wisconsin (UW) schools. To facilitate the program, all Wisconsin high schools must use student GPA to calculate students’ class ranking, place it on their transcripts and notify students of their rank.
Students from any Wisconsin high school who are in the top 10% of their class at the end of 11th grade will be guaranteed admission to all UW universities except UW-Madison. Students who are in the top 5% of their class at the end of 11th grade will be guaranteed admission to UW-Madison, according to the new Wisconsin Guarantee Program.
Even though the program advertises “guaranteed admission,” students’ enrollment is contingent on them submitting an on-time application and high schools preparing a class ranking, as required by state law.
Students who are in the top 5% of their class who are pursuing guaranteed admission to UW-Madison must submit their application by the early admission deadline, Nov. 1. Student applications to all other UW schools must be submitted by their respective, regular application deadlines.
It’s important to note that, although this program was only recently created, it does apply for college admission for the 2025-26 school year, meaning that high schools should rank their current seniors using their GPAs from the end of their 11th grade year.
WCRIS has received questions on how to rank students and break GPA ties. We contacted UW officials and got answers to your questions. See below:
How To Use GPA to Rank Students
Schools have the option of using a weighted or unweighted GPA to calculate the the top 5 and 10 percents of each class.
According to the law, if the school has at least 15 students in the class:
- Schools must only use students’ GPA as of the end of 11th grade to identify the top 5 and 10 percents of the class.
- Schools must place students’ rank on their transcripts.
- Schools must notify students of their rank in the top 5 or 10 percent of the class.
If a high school’s class enrollment is at least 15 but less than 20 students, the school shall identify the highest ranked and 2nd highest ranked students in the class using the above ranking method. The highest ranked student shall be considered to be in the top 5 percent of the student’s high school class and the 2nd highest ranked student shall be considered to be in the top 10 percent of the student’s high school class.
How to Break GPA Ties
It’s possible that schools may have a tie among students for the top 5 and 10 percent of their class. For example, if your class has 60 students, the top three students would be eligible for guaranteed UW-Madison admittance (if they apply by the Nov. 1 deadline). However, you have five students with the same GPA, but the school must have a clear top three.
According to UW, here are some examples of what the school can do:
- Break the tie using a weighted GPA that factors AP, Honor, or IB course loads.
- Recalculate the GPA with greater decimal points to rank the students.
- Use a different GPA for the purposes of the Wisconsin Guarantee ranking.
Schools have the autonomy to use their own system as long as the rankings are based solely on GPA. It’s important to note that whatever actions the school takes, it must still result in a quantitative GPA number. UW officials indicated that schools cannot use the following examples to break ties or rank students:
- Service hours;
- Attendance;
- Community engagement;
- Student leadership position.
Percentage vs. Percentile
It’s also important to note that the rankings are based on percentage, not percentile. This means schools could have a situation where the top 5% of the class equals 2.5 students. In this situation, UW has instructed that schools should round down, so you would have two students in your top 5%.
Different from Direct Admit Wisconsin Program
Direct Admit is a voluntary program in which high schools and students can participate; the Wisconsin Guarantee Program requires schools to rank students.
In the Direct Admit Program, schools share their Student Information Systems (SIS) with the University for the purpose of easy admission in some UW schools. Direct Admit requires that the school rank on the basis of an unweighted GPA.
An application is required of students in the Direct Admit Program; whereas students must still apply by UW schools’ deadlines through The Wisconsin
Schools that participate in the Direct Admit program can have a separate rank and ranking system in their SIS for the purposes of Direct Admit. This means that schools can have one unweighted rank for Direct Admit and another weighted rank for the Wisconsin Guarantee Program, if they wish. Learn more about the Direct Admit Program here.
Helpful Links
- See a comparison of the state’s different college pathway programs.
- Review an FAQ about the Wisconsin Guarantee Program.
- Read 2023 Wisconsin Act 95 that established the Wisconsin Guarantee Program.
If you have questions, please reach out to WCRIS.
