GOP lawmakers propose guaranteed UW admission program for high schoolers without additional revenue for campuses

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Future UW students would be admitted though a guaranteed admission program to ensure high schoolers that rank among the highest in their class are secured a spot at a university under a Republican bill, but the bill sponsors did not offer solutions to address how UW campuses would be able to manage an influx of new students.

The bill would require the University of Wisconsin System and technical colleges to establish a new formula to automatically admit students that rank in the top 5% of their class, which Republican authors of the proposal estimated would be about 3,500 students in Wisconsin.

Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton) and Rep. Jerry O'Conner (R-Fond Du Lac) said they introduced the measure to ensure students can find a path to college success and have a guaranteed spot at a campus of their choice.

"For those top 5% students that need to be rewarded for the hard work and dedication that they committed during their high school years, this seems to be a no-brainer to me," said Cabral-Guevara.

Under the program, any high school students attending a small or large school would be automatically enrolled if they reach the academic achievement threshold. If a high school's class enrollment is less than 20 pupils, the highest ranked pupil in the class is considered to be in the top 5%, according to the bill.

A previous version of the bill would have allowed students from across the country to use the guaranteed admission program when applying to UW campuses, according to staffers from O'Conner's office.

When asked how the UW System would make room for potentially thousands of additional students on campus, O'Conner said he didn't believe that would be an issue.

"I don't see any need to raise any dollars to do this," O'Conner said. "The university is already running a formula, so this is simply changing a formula."

O'Conner added, "If it ends up being a problem, we can come back and readdress it, but right now we're not facing that problem because we are facing a decline in the number of students coming here."

During the fall 2022 semester, UW-Madison had over 60,000 freshman students apply and admitted 29,545. Overall admission from the 2021 to 2022 school year rose by about 1,600 students at UW-Madison.

A spokesman for the UW-System did not immediately respond to request for comment.