On Feb. 20, 2024, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed Act 95, an act which created a new program called The Wisconsin Guarantee. This program guarantees admission to the University of Wisconsin- Madison to any student who ranks in the top five percent of their high school class at the end of their junior year. Students within the top ten percent are guaranteed admission to all other University of Wisconsin (UW) schools. Many high schools throughout the state, including Middleton High School (MHS), do not rank their students, leaving many students wondering how they stand within this new program.
The class of 2025 is the first group to participate in the Wisconsin Guarantee, which means that current high school juniors across Wisconsin may be eligible for admission through the program. The program will continue indefinitely, changing the process of UW admissions for high schoolers around the state.
The bill itself poses a challenge for MHS and other high schools. Act 95 specifically states that “the sole criterion for ranking pupils shall be the pupil’s grade point average.” MHS currently does not rank students, and has not since 2007. While there are some systems in place to pull a student’s rank, a comprehensive system is not in place.
“[MHS doesn’t] have a system to do class rank,” said Elizabeth Merrick, an associate principal at MHS. “[MHS] can pull a rank, because Infinite Campus is calculating it. […] It’s not a true, traditional class rank.”
Many other Wisconsin high schools have abandoned class rank. According to an article by the Wisconsin State Journal, only seven of the 16 high schools in Dane County rank all of their students. MHS got rid of class rank both to reduce competition and to encourage students to take academically rigorous courses.
“[Class rank] creates a lot of competition, a lot of unhealthy competition amongst friends and students,” Merrick said. “It also sometimes inhibits students from trying out something really hard because it might affect their rank.”
MHS is considering changing how they determine class rank, but is waiting to hear from the state government and UW before making a final decision on a new system.
“[MHS is] as nervous as everyone else about [The Wisconsin Guarantee] […] How do we do it if we have ties? How do we rank if kids didn’t know they were going to be ranked?” Merrick said.
MHS will most likely only mark transcripts if they are within the top five or ten percent of their class, and will not release any student’s specific rank. Once MHS determines class rank, they will mark students’ transcripts if they are within the top five or ten percent of their class.
Students must still apply to UW schools they wish to attend, even if they are eligible for the Wisconsin Guarantee. If they meet the top five or ten percent criteria, they are guaranteed admission once they apply.
“[Students] still have to go through the traditional application process,” said Merrick. “When [a student] applies to UW, any of them, [a student’s] transcript will be attached, and it will say ‘Top Five Percent’ or ‘Top Ten Percent.”
MHS does not expect the program to have a large impact on the admissions process of MHS students. They expect that the amount of students they send to UW-Madison each year will stay relatively the same.
“[MHS] sends about a 100 kids a year to UW-Madison, and about another hundred to the other [UW system schools],” Merrick said. “UW-Madison admits over 150 MHS seniors every year.”
Merrick stressed that “just because you’re not in the top 5 percent, doesn’t mean you can’t go to UW-Madison”.
The Wisconsin Guarantee program has created a lot of new questions for students at MHS. Many MHS students will face a new and somewhat unknown admissions landscape, leaving them with mixed feelings about the program.
“I feel like [The Wisconsin Guarantee] only benefits the very top. […] Only those with 4.0’s, because our school is so competitive,” Grace Parker (11) said.
Still, some students feel that the idea behind the program is good.
“I think it has good intentions, but it might be a bit problematic,” Michael Rakocy (11) said.
There’s also been a lot of talk among MHS students about the program and its effects.
“I heard some people say that [for] people with not a lot of money, [the old admissions system] can be harder for them with application fees,” Ria Ram (11) said.
Judgements about the program aren’t only limited to current MHS juniors, who are the first group of people to participate in the Wisconsin Guarantee. Seniors, who went through the college admissions process before the Wisconsin Guarantee was created, also have opinions on the program.
“I think it makes high school a lot more competitive, especially at our school where there’s a lot of people with high GPAs,” Elydine Eliason (12) said.
How the Wisconsin Guarantee will affect the UW admissions process is still not entirely known. Some students will learn this summer if they are eligible for the program, and others will wait for the traditional application process to find out if they can attend a UW system school. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that while some students may be guaranteed admission, no graduate is guaranteed rejection.
