Fast Facts: An Overview of the College of Letters & Science at UW-Madison

Dean

Eric Wilcots

Faculty and Staff

  • More than 5,010 Faculty and Staff (Fall 2022)

Students

  • Total enrolled students: 23,478 (2022)
  • 19,108 enrolled undergraduates (2022)
  • 4,370 enrolled graduate students, clinical, & doctoral students combined (2022)

Credit Hours

  • 687,117 Total Hours (2021-22)
  • 64.9% of UW-Madison undergraduate credit hours (2021-2022)
  • 81% of UW-Madison freshmen & sophomore credit hours (2021-2022)

Academic Offerings

The College of Letters & Science is comprised of more than 34 academic departments, 10 non-academic departments, 73 centers and institutes, and 5 professional schools across four broad divisions: arts and humanities, computer, data & information sciences, physical and natural sciences, and the social sciences.

Popular Majors

L&S offers 84 majors. Four of the top five of UW Madison's most popular majors are in L&S (2021-22).

Total Degrees Conferred

  • 3,532 undergraduate degrees (2021-22)
  • 1,262 graduate and professional degrees (2021-22)
  • 4,794 total degrees (2021-22)

Average L&S Undergraduate Time to Degree

Students who entered as full-time, first-time freshmen averaged 3.80 years to receive their degree. (2021-22)

Alumni

As of January 2023, there are more than 211,545 alumni and friends of L&S. 44.3% of UW-Madison alumni.

Research Funding

Extramural Research Awards: $142.2 million (2021-22)
Federal Research Awards: $111.5 million (2021-22)
Total Research Expenditures: $158.7 million (2021-22)

Sources: UW-Madison Data Digest / Conferred Degree Reports