Wisconsin Private Colleges and Universities

Independent Colleges and Universities in Wisconsin

As a student in Wisconsin, you also will be exposed to a host of recreational and business opportunities to supplement your studies.

Wisconsin borders Lake Michigan and offers access to many outdoor and water-related activities in locations such as the Wisconsin Dells and Lake Geneva. This outdoor environment can provide the perfect balance for those who are focused on improving their career skills, starting a degree program, or participating in distance learning to find a new trade.

Wisconsin private colleges and universities offer a wide range of education programs with degrees and certificates up to the doctoral level, as well as professional degrees such as law and medicine. These Wisconsin private schools are diverse in character, academic emphasis, and origins. Some private colleges or schools have a religious affiliation; others are secular. Private colleges and universities may be profit or non-profit institutions. Typically, independent or private schools give weight to personal characteristics and activities in addition to considering GPA and test scores. While many Wisconsin private schools are considerably more expensive than comparable state institutions, they also tend to offer more generous financial aid packages. Many students have found the actual out-of-pocket cost to earn a degree from a private college in Wisconsin to be less than the cost of the state schools to which they were accepted. On the one hand, public colleges are usually less expensive, particularly for in-state residents. They get most of their money from the state or local government. Check out your state's Guide to Residency. Wisconsin private colleges rely on tuition, fees, endowments, and other private sources of funding. On the other hand, Wisconsin private colleges are usually smaller and can offer more personalized attention (and some believe, more prestige).

Wisconsin College Graduate and Undergraduate Degrees

Wisconsin Cities Colleges:

Wisconsin Private Colleges and Universities

The Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

WAICU represents and promotes collaboration among the 20 private colleges and universities of Wisconsin and their more than 56,000 students. Each WAICU member is a nonprofit, fully accredited, degree-granting institution, but each is unique, with its own mission and culture. All are open to people of every race, religion, and economic circumstance. All are student-centered, offering small class sizes, individual attention from professors, opportunities for involvement and leadership, and generous financial aid that makes a private higher education affordable for all qualified students.

• Alverno College, Milwaukee
• Bellin College of Nursing, Green Bay
• Beloit College, Beloit
• Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee
• Carroll College, Waukesha
• Carthage College, Kenosha
• Columbia College of Nursing, Milwaukee
• Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon
• Edgewood College, Madison
• Lakeland College, Sheboygan
• Lawrence University, Appleton
• Maranatha Baptist Bible College, Watertown
• Marian College, Fond du Lac
• Marquette University, Milwaukee
• Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
• Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, Racine
• Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
• Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Mount Mary College, Milwaukee
• Nashotah House, Nashotah
• Northland Baptist Bible College, Dunbar
• Northland College, Ashland
• Ripon College, Ripon
• Sacred Heart School of Theology, Hales Corners
• Saint Francis Seminary
• Saint Norbert College, De Pere
• Silver Lake College, Manitowoc
• Viterbo University, La Crosse
• Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee
• Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee
• Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology, Milwaukee