Disclaimer: Rossellin Gaitán uses she/they pronouns, but for clarification purposes, she/her pronouns will be featured.

This year, UW-Eau Claire is ranked among the top universities in Wisconsin by U.S. News World Report and Forbes. 

U.S. News released its 2023 Best Colleges report on Sept. 12, 2022. UW-Eau Claire ranked first among public regional universities in the state, seventh in public schools in the Midwest and the top two public regional universities in Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The school was also recognized as a “Best Value School”, “Top Performers on Social Mobility”, “Best College for Veterans” and “A+ Schools for B Students.” 

UW-Eau Claire’s engineering, nursing and business programs were recognized in the U.S. News. 

“I’m proud to be in the program and think it really helps students excel, it’s great to hear that they ranked high nationally,” Lexie Petitjean, third-year business student said. 

Highlighted in the report is the work this university has done to help close the gap between opportunity and equity for low-income, first-generation students. 

Forbes scored the university among the top schools in the United States.

It ranked third in Wisconsin on Forbes’ 2022 America’s Top Colleges list. 

UW-Eau Claire ranked 253rd nationally while ranking 119th among public universities and 43rd among public/private universities within the Midwest. 

Rossellin Gaitán, student body President, said she’s glad the beauty of our campus along with its programs are being recognized at a nationally ranked level. 

Forbes found through analysis that UW-Eau Claire’s average grant aid is $3,873, its student debt is $7,231 and finally its graduates’ average 10-year salary is roughly $100,900. 

These figures look at how long it will take students to pay off their college debt and price-to-earnings, according to Forbes. Therefore things like average grant aid, average student debt and graduates’ average 10-year salary are all important in choosing top schools.

Chancellor James Schmidt said, “We made a small list nationally of the most innovative schools according to Forbes. That one warms my heart because we work very hard on that.”

“The university is always pushing for more,” Schmidt said. “Whether that be initiating new policies to help first-generation students be successful or attracting more students of color.”

The recognition will push us to achieve higher and continue to fix the lesser-known issues throughout campus, Gaitán said.  

“It’s not a bad thing to expect more,” Gaitán said. “This doesn’t diminish the accomplishments, but rather knowing the work we are doing is paying off and to continue improving this institution.”

Schmidt said the students are what make the university, their published work, internships, local outreach and scholarships awarded, they are the reason the staff and faculty work so hard for the students who attend here.  

Maxwell can be reached at [email protected].