University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Public · Moderately Selective · WI

Photo: TheTrashMan (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationWI · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads9,277

Student:faculty20:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate51.4%

6-yr grad rate71%

Drop-out rate13.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$10k

Out-of-state tuition$20k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity11.4%

Gender diversity56.6%

International0.7%

Identity—

Overview

UW-La Crosse is a public university set in a Mississippi River town framed by dramatic bluffs, widely regarded as one of the strongest undergraduate experiences in the UW system outside Madison. It has a compact, tightly organized campus and a reputation for being more selective and teaching-focused than many regional publics its size, drawing students from across Wisconsin and neighboring Minnesota and Iowa who want a smaller-scale alternative to Madison without sacrificing academic strength.

Academics

Health professions are the clear signature strength, especially physical therapy, physician assistant studies, and exercise science, supported by strong clinical and lab facilities and close ties to regional hospitals and clinics for clinical placements. Education is another long-standing pillar, with a well-regarded track record placing student teachers in area schools. Class sizes tend to be small for a public university, and faculty are known for being accessible to undergraduates, including in upper-level science courses that might otherwise be taught only to graduate students elsewhere.

Campus & student life

The river valley setting drives an outdoorsy student culture built around biking, kayaking, and hiking the bluffs that rise directly behind campus, and the compact campus keeps most students living close together within easy walking distance of downtown La Crosse. It has a reputation as a healthy, active campus rather than a big-athletics or big-Greek-life school, with intramurals and outdoor recreation clubs drawing more everyday participation than varsity sports do.

Getting in

Admissions at UW-La Crosse is more competitive than the typical regional UW campus, and the university has a reputation for attracting strong students who considered Madison but wanted a smaller campus. The process weighs academic record heavily, particularly for the health-professions programs, which are more selective within the university than admission to the university itself.

After graduation

The health-professions programs feed graduates directly into physical therapy, physician assistant, and other clinical graduate programs at strong placement rates, a track record the university actively promotes. Education graduates place readily in Wisconsin and Minnesota school districts. The alumni network is regionally concentrated across Wisconsin and the upper Midwest rather than nationally dispersed.

Worth knowing

The exercise science and health professions pipeline is unusually deep for a school this size, giving pre-health students a well-worn path with strong graduate placement into competitive clinical programs. The small city of La Crosse itself, rather than a big surrounding metro, shapes a self-contained, community-oriented student experience, and students who want ready access to a major city should weigh that trade-off.

uwlax.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate75.5%

Enrolled mid-50%ACT 22–27

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Applying